THE 



PROGRESS OF REFINEMENT, 



AN ALLEGORICAL POE3I : 



OTHER POEMS. 



BY 



/ 



The Rev. WILLIAM GILLESPIE. 




EDINB 



PRINTED BY AND FOR MUNDELL AND SON} 

AND FOR LONGMAN, BORST, REES, AND ORME; AND 

T. OSTELL, LONDON. 



1805. 






g 



1 



TO THE 
MOST NOBLE 

JOHN MARQUIS OF ABERCORN, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, 

AS A SMALL TRIBUTE OF RESPECT 

FOR HIS LORDSHIP'S EMINENT TALENTS AND 

DISTINGUISHED ZEAL, 

IN PROMOTING THE INTERESTS OP 

SCIENCE AND LITERATURE, 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

The Author deems it necessary to apologize to Mr. . 
Pye 9 for having given to the following Allegory the 
title of his elegant poem the ' Progress oj c Refinement.* 
He can assure that gentleman, that he was noc apprized 
of the existence of his work till his own was nearly 
printed off] when it was unfortunately too late to alter it, 



CONTENTS. 

Progress of Refinement, canto i ..,..* 1 

canto ii * ... 27 

* canto in „ 65 

, canto iv. 99 

Notes t . . . .117 

Stanzas addressed to A. Don, Esq 137 

Ode to Solitude 142 

Ode to Frost. , 151 

Sonnet 160 

Sonnet 162 

Sonnet. 166 

Verses to a tear 168 

A Mother's address to her child. . 171 

Song— the Tears of beauty 178 

Ode to a Fay, 180 

The Ferryman. 187 

War Song ] 90 

Verses to the Ken 196 

The Swiss peasant * 199 

Ode to Beniglow. , • 201 



ERRATA. 

Page si laft"line,/cr chace read race. 

73 1. 10, wand'ring read wondering** 

96 11, cam'dst read cam'st. 

1 10 8, whither read whether* 



ARGUMENT. 



Savage state of the first Britons....Britannia sends infant Science 
and Art to the British woods....their first influence on the rude 
mhabitants....developement of some of the softer passions... .Address 
to Beauty....Pastoral Age....its happy innocence and simplicity.... 
Art enamoured of Science....The birth of Commerce....her genius 

....her first voyage.. ..she directs her course by the stars Compass 

....Address of Science to Commerce... .her influence in connecting 
those nations which seem destined to be for ever separated by the 
ocean. ...Concluding address of Britannia on the increasing pros- 
perity of her favourite isle. 



THE 

PROGRESS OF REFINEMENT; 

AN ALLEGORICAL POEM. 
CANTO I. 

In i elder times' our rugged fathers dwell, 
Deep in their woods, unblest by infant Art, 
Ere the soft passions yet had taught the heart 
To throb with love, or with compassion melt.— 
Far lurk'd the savage in his sylvan cell, 
Or trod, with sullen pride, his niggard soil, 
Fierce as the storms, that on his mountains felL 
Rude as the rocks that fring'd his native isle. 

A 2 



THE PROGRESS 



Or when the orient vermeil streak' d the morn, 
By want impell'd, he snatch'd his wooden spear, 
Arous'd his grey dogs, with his bugle-horn, 
And chac'd o'er pathless heights the bounding deer ^ 
Or when the hostile yell was heard afar, 
Down from his dark hills rush'd, and swell' d the din of war. 

As when the lion, on Numidia's shore, 

Swift from his den, with gnawing hunger flies, 

Death in his heart, and fury in his eyes, 

While trembling forests echo to his roar. 

Such was the Briton, even than beasts more fell; 

The slave of appetite's ungovern'd rage, 

Nor left the dark recesses of his cell, 

Save passion's furious impulse to assuage 



OF REFINEMENT. 



No chord of sympathy his soul confess'd\ 
That to the touch of Nature trembl'd true ; 
Nor Reason's sterner influence repress'd 
The angry storms that round his bosom new -, 
Nor yet had music charm'd his melting soul, 
Nor beauty o'er his heart with soft enchantment stole. 

And Nature, like her sons, uncultur'd, wild, n- a cf e , 
Display'd no charms, where none those charms could 
The woods alone Spring's vital touch confess'd, 
Or heaths impurpling as the Summer smil'd. 

i 

No hamlet smoking thro' the mists of dawn, 
No garden blushing through its fostering dew, 
No herds wild browsing o'er the daisied lawn, 
No busy village charm'd th' admiring view. 



-THE t>ROGKESS 



But Solitude sat on the russet moor, 
And listen'd to the wild bee's pensive hum ; 
And shun'd the hostile caves, the dells obscure, 
*" Where dwelt the savage in his kindred gloom ; 
Who, as he mid his woods or mountains trode, pp , 
Nor paus'd o'er Nature's charms, nor mus'd on Nature"? 

No streamlet's plaint his fond attention drew, 
As down the steeps its liquid silver fell 5 
No stream he sought but parching thirst to quell y 
Nor wood — but where wild fruits and berries grew. 
Not the vast rolling sphere of blazing light, 
That leads the Seasons smiling in their march > 
Not the pale orb that cheers the gloom of Night : 
Not the bright stars that stud the dark blue arch - 7 



Of* R E i- 1 N E M F N T 



Not Morn's gay smile, nor Evening's milder blush, 
When from her yellow hair the dews she flings, 
Spontaneous notes, that burst from every bush, 
And joys that flutter from a thousand wings, 
These nor his fancy pieas'd, nor charm d his heart, 
Which oft to souls reiin'd such ecstacy impart. 

Yet slumbering still within his rugged frame, 

The seeds of all the gentler virtues lay. 

Thus hides the shell the pearl's mild beaming ray ; 

Thus the dark cave conceals the diamond's flame. 

To pick subsistence from a scanty soil, 

The widening sphere of intellect conrnVd. 

Till now a happier age began to smile. 

And wake the softer sympathies of mind 




B THE PROGRESS 

Spirits of Song ! that guide the poet's soul, 
To mortal ken the sacred truths disclose, 
How other ages now began to roll ; 
How in a savage breast soft passions^'ose ; 
How fair Britannia, bending from her skies, 
On her dark-wooded isle look'd down with pitying eyes. 

From roseate realms, where joys unfading smile, 
She in a veil of radiant clouds convey' d 
Art, the fair boy, and Science, infant maid, 
To the thick woods that cloth'd our wave-bound isle, 
e Here be your seat, 5 our guardian goddess said, 
f Here teach untutor'd man your soft'ning lore, 
' Let Albion, swelling from its azure bed 
- Of savage rudeness be the prey no more ; 



OP REFINEMENT. 



' Here strike the harp, and wake the heavenly strain, 
1 That animates to joy, or melts to love ; 
'That locks the bitter source of mental pain, 
* And bids the heart to soft compassion move.' 
She spoke, — soft music breatheb the woodlands round, 
The listening Echoes charm' d, thro' all their grottoes sound, 

Th' astonish' d warriors, as the music flew, 
Felt strange emotions in their bosoms rise; 
The tears of nature bursting from their eyes, 
Of generous actions prov'd the fostering dew. — - 
Such charms can sound to poesy impart, 
As bend the haughty savage to their sway; 
Still the fierce storms that struggle in his heart? 
And bid the beams of softer passion play. 



i)l TEE PROGRESS 



The woods that erst but hostile sounds had known, 
Burst to the song of humanizing Love ; 
While the stern breast, now true to Feeling's tone,, 
Delights each blissful sympathy to prove. 
And Friendship's social joys begins to know, — 
Friendship, the cheering sun that lights this world below i 

Oft was the shivering native wont to fly, 
Mid sheltering woods to shield his naked form, 
When thro' the waste air ragd the maniac storm. 
Yet not the woods a constant shade supply. 
Taught by young Art, now in the vale he weaves, 
Of pliant boughs, the wigwam's simple bower, 
*Xeath whose green canopy of clustering leaves, 
He shuns the heat, and tempest's furious power : 



OF REFINEMENT. 11 



Improving still, the shifting tent he made, 
That j when night found him on the desert moor* 
Spent with the chace — beneath its welcome shade,, 
Soft, on the brown heath, might he sleep secure -, 
And strike his tent when blush'd the kindling day, 
And seek his scatter'd tribe along the dewy way.—- 

Art taught him next, his naked form to- veil, 
In varying dress, — and thro' the storms of war, 
Taught the stern chief to guide his Celtic car, 
And case his sinewy trunk in plated mail, 
And bind the helmet round his ample brow, 
Whose nodding plumes majestic stream in air, 
And guide the shield, and bend the twanging bow, 
And dart, with surest, aim, the pointed spear. 



12 THE PROGRESS 



And Art him taught to sweep the trembling wire- 
That melts to Pity, or to fight impells 5 
That fans the subtile flame of soft Desire, 
While on the ear the sound melodious swells. 
Such were our fathers, that of yore defied 
Great Caesar's mighty power, and Rome's imperial pride. 

Thus Pity smil'd, and smil'd her sister Love. 
Unmov'd no more the British damsel stood, 
While man the brother shed the brother's blood. 
Warm in her heart now softer passions move. 
Those lips that once the bloody war-hymn sung, 
To sweet Compassion give their accents bland, 
Oft round the rugged warrior's neck she clung, 
Rebuk'd his ire, and staid his murderous hand, 



OF REFINEMENT. 13 



None but the brave exalted love inspires -, 
And he whose coward soul to blood is prone. 
Ne'er deeds achiev'd that generous Virtue fires, 
Nor in another's bliss, e'er felt his own. 
Thus Beauty charm'd, when now perceiv'd her charms, 
And folds the brave alone within her snowy arms. 

Beauty ! thou tamer of the savage breast, 
Nurse of soft joy, and sweet domestic ease, 
That first inspir'dst the generous wish to please ; 
For he who bliss imparts, himself is blest. — 
On Morven's snow-clad wilds, on Thule's isles, 
On climes where surly Winter ceaseless frowns, 
The hardy native gladdens in thy smiles, 
Sinks on thy breast, and all thy rapture owns. 



14 THE PROGRESS 



Blest in thy charms, beside the faggot's blaze, 
His long-liv'd nights in social pleasures move 5 
Soft on his pipe, thy charms resistless plays, 
And drowns each thought of war in sweeter love, 
Music and Poesy, inspired by thee — 
Unlock the mazy springs of melting sympathy. 

Thus, with success their smiling empire crown'd, 
Young Art and Science now delighted view'd, 
Men for the cot, forsook the cavern rude, 
Forgot the chace, and till'd the peaceful ground. — 
Friendship and Love now twine the social tie. 
The busy village rises on the green, 
And breathes the hum of noisy industry 
O'er the still, solemn, silence of the scene ; 



OF REFINEMENT. 15 



And hoary Druids light the sacred fire, 
And speak the mandates of the gods above : 
Th' unletter'd tribes hear, wonder, and admire,, 
Bound in the chains that Superstition wove. 
Thus civic laws are from the altars giv'n, 
And men are rul'd on eartb, by terrors drawn fromHeav'n. 

Unending task, tho' yet unsung were mine, 

To tell how Art first taught a martial race, 

To tame those flocks they once were wont to chace. 

And from their woods to lure the milky kine. 

As Manco Capac, and his beauteous bride, 

From solar realms to fair Columbia flew, 

To verdant vales by Titiaca's tide 3 

And taught th! untutor'd natives of Peru ; 



If) THE PROGRESS 



To sow with various seeds the various soil, 

And reap the fruits which cultur'd nature yields > 

That please the fancy, or reward the toil, 

Perfume the gale, or beautify the fields. 

So Art and Science taught our native swains, r , . 

Lplains. 

To sheath their blood-stain'd swords, and till their peaceful 

Then came the pastoral age, of rural joy, — 
Mild peaceful age, when war delights no more ! 
And on those plains so lately stajn'd with gore, 
The warrior's son now dwells a shepherd boy. 
And sportive flocks adorn the sunny hill, 
And lowing cattle cheer the winding dale $ 
And on the primros'd verge of every rill, 
Some love-sick shepherd breathes his amorous tale. 



OF REFINEMENT. *7 



And oft at eve awakes the village dance. 
While moon-light sparkles on the pearly dew : 
Even Heav'n looks down with a benignant glance, 
On joys so sweet, so innocent, and true. 
Nor Av'rice yet these blissful walks had trode, 
Nor steel'd the heart to Love, to Nature, and. to God 

O ! happy age ! of sweet ingenuous love, 
That knows no guilt, and seeks no vain disguise i 
When Beauty, with her soft expressive eyes, 
Seems to invite the bliss she longs to prove \ 
And love to dwell amid our wave-bound isle, 
Maternal Peace, and Quiet musing mild, 
And honest Candour, ignorant of guile, 
And artless Innocence, sweet Nature's child ? 



3 8 THE PROGRESS 



And Mirth, gay laughing on her rosy seat 5 

Nut-brown Content, that quaffs the limpid spring, 

And sees unmov'd each varying frown of Fate, 

Smiles at Misfortune, and defies her sting, 

And Liberty dwells in her sparry cave, r 

1 r J ' [som wave. 

Whose locks, with heath-bells twin'd, light o'er her bo- 

• 
Thus heav'n-born Art improves our happy isle 5 
And still he Science sought, sweet musing rnaid, 
Shar'd all her joys, who lov'd his toils to aid, 
Hung o'er her charms, and gladden'd in her smile* 
From friendship oft a keener passion flows, 
When mutual beauty lights a mutual fire, 
And Science, blooming like the summer's rose, 
Woke in young Art the throb of fond desire. 



OF REFINEMENT. 



On the green banks of sweetly winding Thame, 
Where trees o'er-canopy the twilight glade, 
Th' impassion'd youth once met the wandering dame^ 
And robb'd the vestal honours of the maid $ 
Nor many moons had glisten' d on the shore, 
Ere, mid a sea-worn cave, she a sweet infant bore, 

So Commerce sprung, nymph of advent' rous souL 
Nor like her mother lov'd the rural plain ; 
Her charm'dthe plaintive cadence of the main, 
That oft in balmy sleep her senses stole. 
And oft the slimy beach she wander'd o'er, 
And mimic boats of shelly valves design'd 5 
Or cull'd the sea-weeds tangling on the shore, 
Which round her yellow hair she graceful twin'd : 

S3 



1 



20 



THE PROGRESS 



Or sat and listen' d to the sleepless wave, 
Ereathing hoarse music as it rose and fell 5 
Or view'd the squalling gull her white wings lave, 
Or proudly ride upon the heaving swell ; 
Or while soft Eve the floods with roses dy'd, 
View'd the Sun's flaming orb plunge in the roaring tide* 

And longing much to cross th' expansive tide, 
She fell'd the oak, and launch' d it in the brine, % 
And on its hollow'd trunk dar'd to recline, 
And visit climes unknown she far descry'd. 
Thus first she ventur'd in a rude canoe, 
O'er the green bosom of the heaving wave 5 
When Art, her rising genius charm'd to view 5 
The nobler ship to his fair daughter gave. 



OF REFINEMENT. 21 



The sails are spread, the vessel rides away,. 
And spurns the impulse of the feeble oar : 
Surpris'd she sees her native hills decay, 
Dissolve in mist, and please the eye no more. 
Soon fade the pale shores of the vast profound, 
Which Heav'n's imperial vault is only seen to bound. 

To guide her lorn track o'er the pathless foam, 
She mark'd the stars, that stud the blue serene, 
Whose lamps, that in the dark wave twinkle sheen, 
Are oft obscur'd behind the tempest's gloom. 
Forsaken then, by every guide of Heav'n, 
While on the storm Destruction howling, rode, 
Mid clust'ring reefs her fragile bark was driv'n ; 
Or devious toss'd wide o'er the mountain flood. 



THE PROGRESS 



At ]ength ; the curious nymph from Science stole 
The magic needle, — Navigation's pride, 
Whose trembling point that constant woos the pole. 
Proves her unerring talisman and guide ; 
Sure of her path, on the cerulean deep, 
Tho' Night in sable state ride down Heav'n's concave steep ; 

7 Go then/ said Science to th' advent'rous fair^ 
f And lift thy canvas pinions o'er the main -, 
* Remotest lands link with thy golden chain, 
r And to our isle their choicest blessings bean 

From Athens, which the cool Ilissus laves, 
' And ancient Rome, where yellow Tiber glides, 
' And the fam'd walls wash'd by Bosphorean waves, 

And Venice, swelling from the azure tides. 



OF REFINEMENT. 



* Anddown those streams thro' woody mountains roll'd, 
g That still Iberia's cruelty deplore, 
c Hills lin'd with silver, and streams edg'd with gold, 
1 And Indian riches waft to Albion's shore. 
i Go, lovely maid, still blest by Liberty— ~^ QQ , 

'Tis mine to teach the world, that Commerce must be 

Xong Ocean held his unexplord abode, 
Heav'd the proud surge, and roll'd the foamy tide 3 
And long he strove the nations to divide : 
Now the frail ship defies the angry god. 
Safe on the wave, tho' loud the tempests roar, 
Advent' rous Commerce spreads her canvass wing?.. 
Or from. Potosi bears the silver ore, 
\ Or from Golconda, the bright diamond brings. 



24 THE PROGRESS 



From woody Afrie, panting on the line, 
To Greenland shiv'ring 'neath the frozen skies, 
She bids the scattered tribes of men combine, 
And wakes their torpid minds to bold emprize. 
From pole to pole, extends her welcome voice, 
And makes the blooming cheek of Industry rejoice. 

< Oh ! happy land ! not more by Science blest, 

6 Than blest by guileless Faith and virtuous Toil.' 
Thus sung the guardian goddess of our isle, 
As high she hung o'er Albion's hills of mist :. 

< Where late the wild heath wav'd its blossoms red, 
* In beds of flow'rs the milky herds repose ; 

■ For now the solitary haunts are glad, 
f And the dry desert blossoms as the rose. 



OF REFINEMENT. 25 



; By every tide convey' d, — by every gale, 

* Commercial treasures on thy coasts are thrown ^ 
( Remotest seas reflect a British sail, — 

* Remotest isles her rising glory own. 

1 Triumphant navies guard their parent shore 5 
[ The world their thunder hears, and trembles at the roar.' 

1 Thy mountain oaks, when threat'ning danger calls, 
' Descend to shield thee on the briny wave \ 

* Then every sailor proves a patriot brave, 

r And pours destruction from his wooden walls. — 
'Britain ! fair seat of Industry and Art, 
' And Commerce that extends her plenteous reign, 
4 And oak-crown'd Courage, nymph of dreadless heart, 
: That Freedom leads triumphant in her train ; 



26 



THE PROGRESS, ETC 



4 Alas ! to thee, far other scenes unfold, 
e By Love, nor Truth, nor generous Virtue, blest* 
i An iron age succeeds an age of gold. 
e Such is of Fate the dread, but sure, behest.* 
She spoke, — and in a cloud of dazzling light, 
Conceal'd her bursting tears, — andvanish'd from the sight- 



•ARGUMENT, 



Episcdk on 'the discovery of America,, ..Commerce meets 
with Wealth on the coast of Peru....becomes enamoured of him.... 
prevails with him to accompany her to Britain. ...Song of Wealth 
....his influence....Love of Wealth the ruling passion... .depression of 
literary genius....increase of great towns....depopulation of the 
country... .National virtue increases not with national wealth..... 
unavailing nature of Wealth....the birth of Luxury.. .her beauty.., 
Invocation to Fancy....palace of Luxury....Its splendour....Fashion... 
Kabit....Address of Luxury...,Ker attend?vUts..„Ruin„.vGulf of mi- 
sery, and disease. 



THE 

PROGRESS OF REFINEMENT; 

AN ALLEGORICAL POEM. 
CANTO II. 

Ourst be the day when Cortes plow'd the main, 
And thro' the azure mists of unknown skies, 
New mountains view'd, and woods of fairer dyes, 
Where Mexico expands her golden reign. 
And curs'd the day when from Panama's towers, 
The bold Pizzaro bade a last adieu -, 
And curst the day in Caxamalca's bowers, 
He seiz'd th' imperial treasures of Peru. 



30 THE PROGRESS 



Then gaz'd the warrior on a richer feast 
Than Asia e'er before her califs spread y 
And as he gaz'd, — died in his guilty breast 
Each generous thought, — and all the hero fled, 
Oh ! damned gold ! that blunt'st the heav'n-born soul 
Tp Pity, Friendship, Love, and Honour's stern controuL 

Still mid the ruins of his ancient halls 

Mourns Montezuma's shade at dusky eve $ 

And Guatimozin, even in torture brave, 

Wild from offended Heav'n on vengeance calls. 

And, lo ! of subject ghosts a countless train, 

Invoke revenge on Europe's guilty shore, 

Point to their native fields, where strangers reign, . 

Their native fields, still reeking with their gore, 



OF REFINEMENT, 3.1 



Yes ! from your hills, and streams of golden sand/ 
Revenge shall rouse him from his lengthen'd sleep, 
Shall waft your treasures to each hostile land, 
Shall waft the shining death far o'er the deep. 
Yes ! what your ruin prov'd shall prove their bane j 
And vengeance shall be yours,— ye spirits of the slain ! 

Now Commerce bloom'd in Beauty's ripening pride, 
Quick heav'd her snowy breast with fond desire, 
And beam'd her blue eyes with a keener fire, 
And soft illusions round her fancy play'd. 
Once as she stray'd on the Peruvian shore, 
A dusky chieftan caught her wondering sight, 
Around his neck full many a gem he wore, 
And his rich armour glisten'd in the light 



32 THE PROGRESS 



Flash' d like Heav'n's bow around him as he trode, 
His diamond crown with snowy plumage dress'd, 
While high in air he wavd a golden rod, 
Whose magic power each object quick confess'd. 
Such charms had Wealth (for so the chief was nam' d), 
As soon to keenest love the beauteous nymph inflam'd. 

Destin'd they were a mutual flame to prove, 

Not flow'rs more constant drink their evening dews, 

Not the bright steel the kindred magnet woos, 

Than throb'd their bosoms to congenial love. 

And soon, by Commerce urg'd, Wealth left the shore, 

Where long the Indian felt his peaceful reign ; 

Far o'er the deep with his fond bride he bore, 

To Albion swelling from its parent main. 



OF REFINEMENT. 33 



Where in their sylvan haunts of cheerful toil, 
Men only virtue and contentment sought, 
By Friendship blest, and Love's enliv'ning smile, 
Love yet unconscious of a venal thought \ 
Where the stern Patriot still in virtue bold, 
Ne'er yet had blush'd to see his Freedom pledg'd for gold. 

And scarce had Wealth our sea-beat shores imprest, 
When to the Harp that o'er his shoulders bung, 
Such 'witching strains, (till now unheard,) he sung. 
As woke Ambition in the Peasants breast. 
' ' All ! what avails to dig the barren field, 
* Or droop unheeded in the rural bower, 
6 No fruit these toils to high ambition yield, / 
1 Nor e'er unlock the golden gates of power ? 



34 THE PROGRESS 



•« Lives there -a charm which Wealth cannot procure 
f A soul that spurns by riches to be rul'd ; 
f What Beauty yields riot to the glitt'ring lure, 
c What power defies th' omnipotence of gold ?' 
He sung, — while thousands list'ning to his strain, 
Sought thro' his beauteous Bride his royal smiles to gain. 

And men to Wealth a ready homage pay> 

While little minds by selfish lore imbu'd, 

Rise on the ruins of the great and good 5 

For Wealth to power and honour points the way. 

Offended Virtue flies the giddy scene, 

And dwells with modest worth a fond recluse, 

To Nature lives, amid her woodlands green. 

To Nature lives, to Science, and the Muse. 



OF REFINEMENT. 35 



No golden sands adorn Castalia's fount, 
That sheds on pen'ry's urn its sacred dew, 
Nor men to Wealth by Merit's temple mount, 
That stands on steeps appalling to the view. 
And they, who rapt, awake the silver wire* 
Feel Poverty's chill frost repress their heav'nly flre^ 






Yes ! merit droops, for, in this venal age, 
Wealth, and not glory, is the sole pursuit, 
The tree of Science yields no golden fruit,. 
And her best sons must war with Fortune wage. 
Where art thou Genius ? in what wretched haunt, 
Lead'st thou thy Spencer thro' new fairy climes ? 
Or with thy Butler pin'st in cheerless want ? 
Who lasli'd a frantic age with careless rhymes. 

c2 



^30 THE PROGRESS 



Or Johnson mourn'st, our laughter skill' d to move, 
To playful mirth, even in misfortune prone •> 
Or him who sung Monimia's tragic love, 
Yet sung no tale so tragic as his own ? 
Or with the Bard unheeded lov'st to reign, 
Who made the mortal year immortal in his strain ? 

Yet towns with novel pomp enrich our isle, 
At once the bane and glory of the state, 
In virtue poor, but in their splendour great, 
Where Wealth, rejoicing, basks in Commerce' smile. 
Now lave the streams of Caledonian Clyde, 
Commercial towers that on his green banks rise ; 
And Forth delighted views his Scotia's pride,, 
Edina ! lift her dark walls to the skies. 



OF REFINEMENT. 3/ 



And Don, and classic Tweedy and rural Tay, 
See prouder halls their sylvan banks adorn. 
And thou sweet Avon ! where the Muses stray, 
That still thy Shakespear mourn' st with plaintive urn. 
And Mersey by her red walls murm'ring flows, 
Which groves of thick'ning masts, scarce to the eye disclose. 

And beauteous Eden, Were, and reedy Ouse, 

And Yar, and Humber, mid whose stormy wave, 

The Celtic Eugene found a wat'ry grave, 

Each o'er his waves new towns increasing views. 

And view new cities grace their oritur d shore, 

The sedge-crown'd Cam, long by fair Science woo'd^ 

And Severn, whence full forty Naiads pour 

Their tribute urns ? to swell his copious flood, 



38 THE PROGRESS 



And Medway, whom 'twas thine Old Thames to wed, 
In * olden time' — in thy sweet poet blest, 
And shallow Lone, slow creeping o'er his bed, 
And Tyne, with many a darl^ sail on his breast. 
And classic Dee, where loves the Muse to dwell, 
That ancient Deva sees proud o'er his waters swell* 

But to recount it were an endless theme, 
Each town that rose round Albion's winding shores, 
Where busy Commerce wafts her floating stores, 
Up the smooth current of each parent stream. 
Yet shall the Muse forget thy princely towers, 
Thou grand emporium of the western world, 
Where Thames his rapid floods majestic pours, 
White on whose waves are thousand sails unfurl' d. 



OF REFINEMENT. 3Q 



Immense thy walls burst on th' astonish'd eye, 
Where millions worship at Wealth's dazzling shrine, 
London ! with thee could ne'er Bysantium vie, 
Nor Carthage boast magnificence like thine. 
And Thames, soft pictur'd on his bosom blue, 
Admires as splendid courts as charm'd old Tiber's view. 

And mid those cities that to Wealth arise, 
Art's busy sons ply the mechanic trade, 
And to those noisy haunts of smoke and shade,. 
The swain, from scenes of tranquil nature flies* 
Flies from his peaceful cot, which woods embower, 
Where Quiet loves, by bubbling brooks, to list, 
Where rose-crown'd Fancy marks each op'ning flower, 
And where content makes bliss itself more blest, — 



40 THE PROGRESS 



Flies from his native vale where Nature blooms,. 
To scenes where In t' rest cons his selfish lore, 
Where hellish Fraud Religion's garb assumes, 
Whom Penury to low-bred cunning bore, 
Where coward Theft, abhorrent of the light, 
Skulks, like the hated owl, and acts his deeds of nighr. 

Yet Wealth, say, why thy charms alone can please ? 
Canst thou to pain a soothing balm impart, 
Or light up joy in Sorrow's drooping heart, 
Or heal the subtile poison of disease, 
Or the sharp pangs of conscious guilt remove, 
Or smooth the straggling tempests of the soul, 
Or stay that matchless arm, which from above, 
Hurls the red bolt, and bids the thunders roll ? 



OF REFINEMENT. 41, 



Say, canst thou lull the care-worn heart to rest, 
On Beauty's cheek preserve the rose's bloom, 
Or wake young Fancy in the aged breast, 
Or give to life one moment from the tomb ? 
Ah no ! deceitful idol of mankind, 
6ajr smiling to deceive, and dazzling but to blind, 

A city life to Commerce was more dear, 
Than all the charms of rosy laughing May. 
Eve's mildest blush, and Morning's liveliest ray 5 
Alone the ' busy hum' could charm her ear. 
Still o'er the bustling stage 'twas her's to move* 
Where Wealth gives life and energy to toil, 
Him still pursu'd, and, with increasing love, 
Still drunk new pleasures from his every smile^ 



42 THE PROGRESS 



And in those halls whose cope of blazing gold, 
With tow'ring pride mark'd Wealth's imperial bower, 
Fair Lux'ry, form'd in Nature's finest mould, 
The nymph produced in an ill-fated hour. 
Wealth press'd the infant to his breast, and smii'd > 
Prophetic sigh'd the nymph, yet lov'd her beauteous child. 

And as she grew, each sweet, bewitching grace, 
That fancy, taste, and elegance admire, 
That wakes to joy, or melts to fond desire, 
Shone in her form, and brighten'd in her face. 
With freshest vermeil from the rainbow drawn, 
Ting'd were her lips, and sham'd the orient glow, 
And, scarcely veil'd, beneath the lucid lawn, 
Her bosom rose like a twin -wreath of snow. 



OF REFINEMENT* 43 



l^ot on the Cydnus shone th' Egyptian queen 
More fair, while smiling o'er the conscious wave, 
Not Venus rising from the ocean green, 
When to the light her beauteous form she gave, 
Than Lux'ry seem'd, whose op'ning charms impart 
Love to the gazing eye, and rapture to the heart. 

Oh ! thou who charm'd'st theBard,* byMulla's stream, 
As oft he woo'd the allegoric Muse, 
Thy power, sweet Fancy ! o'er my soul diffuse, 
While Luxury's soft empire is my theme. 
Give me thy pencil, to portray each flower 
That in the garden of the Muses grew, 
For them she cull'd, to deck her fairy bower, 
And in her train she Art and Science drew. 
-* Spencer, 



44 TRE PROGRESS 



And Wealth obey'd her as her willing slave, 
And Commerce spread her white sails for the maid, 
And fearless o'er the ocean's stormy wave, 
To her the spoils of distant worlds convey'd. 
All lov'd her smile, tho' smiling to destroy, 
With dazzling splendour lur'd, or soft voluptuous joy. 

But who can paint to Fancy's wond'ring sight 
Her palace which unrival'd Art display'd, 
Whose canopy on marble columns laid, 
Blaz'd like an orient temple on the light. 
And at the gate, whose valves assunder flew, 
By false desires, were countless numbers driv'n, 
Desires which ne'er unbias'd Nature knew, 
That chain to earth souls only made for Heav'n. 



OF REFINEMENT, 45 



Crowds prest on crowds, yet ne'er they look'd behind. 
To list to Reason s sad imploring cry., 
But light as insects, buzzing in the wind, 
Quick to the inner porch were seen to fly, 
Where Fashion portress, stood, and with her song, 
Still lur'd the flickering crew that Passion drove along. 

Yes ! there th' enchantress, in fair Beauty's pride, 
Yet ever varying with cameleon hue, 
Before them gliding like a meteor flew, 
Beyond the inmost gate which, op'ning wide, 
Turn'd to soft harmony,-— where prest amain 
The revel rout, who, when that porch they-past, 
Ne'er could they measure back their steps again, 
For quick the closing portals shut them fast. 



46 THE PROGRESS 



And lo ! there stood within a giant form* 
Who, with firm grasp, a knotted sceptre held. 
Torn from some mighty oak that brav'd the storm, 
With which the refluent crowds he back impell'd. 
Habit yclep'd, who in their shrines secur'd, 
The giddy imps of Sin, by Fashion's charms allur'd, 

But who may hope to trace th' unrival'd Art, 
That mid the inner-halls resplendent shone j 
There might be found the spoils of every zone, 
That charm the fancy or delight the heart. 
And Painting there her mimic skill display'd^ 
Waking to life the images of things 3 
There buxom Cupid with his Mother play'd, 
Clung round her neck, and fan'd her with his wings. 



OF REFINEMENT. 



And there the airy graces seem'd to move,. 
While each in beauty seem'd with each to vie : 
Even forms ideal woke to real love, 
Even pictur'd charms convey'd a real joy. 
Yes ! Painting there her mingling colours threw, 
Whate'er or learn'd Poussin,-or Titian's pencil drew. 

And Nature there in fancy seem'd to live, 

And soft thro' Claude's warm Evening glow she smil'd, 

Or came from Rosa's hand dark, fierce, and wild, 

Such magic powers can Art to Genius give. 

And Sculpture there with nice proportion chafm'd* 

Struck life and beauty from the shapeless rock, 

And heav'n-born Poesy each bosom warm'd^ 

And each soft passion into madness woke* 



48 THE PROGRESS 



And many a web, by surest instinct wrought, 
Fine as the gossamer at Morn serene, 
From orient climes there Commerce smiling brought. 
And rob'd with insect spoils the witching queen. 
For her soft furs, from shaggy monsters tore, 
;That prowl'd on Dwina's banks, or Oby's distant shore 

And on the ear delicious music stole, 
And round the wide halls breath'd its melting plaint, 
Sweet as the strains that sooth some dying saint, 
.And steep'd in melody the list'ning soul. 
Here might be heard Ausonia's softest airs, 
And Celtic measures that to mirth inspire, 
From Beauty's lips — to charm away our cares. 
And wake the throbbing pulse of young Desire* 



OF REFINEMENT. 4g 



Young nymphs, that blush'd in roses not their own, 
To the light measures tript in wanton maze, 
Whose limbs beneath the silken azure shone, 
Inflam'd the heart, and catch* d the lawless gaze. 
And every object mov'd at Fashion's call, 
And her deceitful smiles were woo'jd and sought by all. 

And here each instrument of cunning make, 

Ingenious Art had erst to Music given ; 

Ev*n the soft lyre, mov'd by the winds of Heav'%^ 

Essay'd their powers of harmony to wake. 

Peal'd the loud organ with its voice sublime, 

Yet mov'd not to Devotion's holy fires -, 

And might be heard the harpsichord to chime, 

And guittar tinkling from its trembling wires., 



50 



THE PROGRESS 



And the piano's quickly varying sound, 
While the light ringers prest its ebon keys -, 
And Erin's grander harp, in song renown'd. 
Young Beauty swept in attitude to please. 
All join'd their various tones in concert sweet, 
Yet there no trump was heard, nor drum of war to beat. 

And mid these halls some quaff' d the purple wine 
From cups that sparkled in the lustre's beams, 
Or woke with opiate draughts delicious dreams, 
On Persian sofas stretch' d in sleep supine. 
And oft the echoing noise of banquets flew, 
With sounds confus'd, of mirth and riot join'd, 
And spent in youth, there doz'd a sensual crew, 
Each on some wanton's lap his head reclin'd. 



OF REFINEMENT. 51 



Where now, ye feeble race, the manly forms, 
That grac'd the ancient tenants of your isle ? 
Free as their winds, but dreadful as their storms, 
Say, was it theirs to bask in Lux'ry's smile ? 
With little pleas'd, no fancied wants they knew, 
But blest with rosy health, their days unclouded flew. 

And lo ! reclin'd in her triumphal chair, 
Whose canopy upheld the winged loves, > 
Fair on whose summit sat two billing doves, 
With softest down, and pinions spread in air, 
The queen in graceful, languid beauty shone, 
Whose cheeks Art taught with mimic blush to glow, 
Whose lawny robes around her loosely thrown, 
Scarce veiFd with wavy light her form of snow. 

d 2 



52 THE PROGRESS 



Or now she mus'd by fits, by fits she smil'd, 
Now listen'd to sweet Music's melting sound, 
Now the dull hours with mirthful games beguil'd, 
Or now her cares with draughts oblivious drown' d. 
Ne'er did she court Reflection's heavenly sway, 
But spent was all her care, to charm all care away. 

Mild beamed her blue eyes thro' their glist'ning dew, 
Oft thrown askance, with conscious pride, would trace 
Her symmet'ry that swell'd with matchless grace, 
Dim thro' the silk she round her white limbs threw. 
So Nature smiles, wrapt in the mist that plays ; 
In silv'ry azure o'er her liveliest dyes, 
Yet every tint seen thro' the swimming haze, 
But the more lovely seems to Fancy's eyes. 



OF REFINEMENT. 53 



• 



A wavy wreath her auburn ringlets grac'd, 
Of clust'ring rose-buds from the wild woods torn, 
Her tap ring form a lucid zone embrac'd, 
Wash'd in the scarlet blush of kindling Morn. 
Now with a lute the feverish sense beguil'd. 
Or now she melting sung, while meltingly she smiTd. 

* Behold the birds that wing the liquid sky, 
( Melodious throng ! that neither spin nor tori, 
6 Nor gather into barns th' autumnal spoil, 
4 But ever chaunt their songs of grateful joy. 

< Say then, shall man, prince of this nether sphere, 

< For whom all nature smiles, yet smiles in vain, 
1 Shall he become the weary drudge of Care, 
f The heir of Pleasure — yet the slave of Pain •? 



54 THE PROGRESS 



* Why in rich clusters hangs the circling vine, 

' Nor veils, with purple pride, its thickening leaves, 
< If ne'er he tastes its soul-enliv'ning wine, 
4 Nor drinks the cup of bliss that Nature gives ? 
€ Or why the peach, or apricot, unfold 
Their pulpy orbs, and shew their hues of blushing gold ? 

i Why beams the eye but on the charms to gaze,, 
s Of beauty blessing only to be blest ? 
e Why form'd the ear, but to the charms to list, 
{ Of rapture-moving sound's commingling maze ? 

* Or why was youth borne on so fleet a wing, 

* If we to joy give not the tripping hours ? 

' Then let us cull each rose-bud of the Spring, 

t And strew life's barren path with choicest flowers 



OF REFINEMENT. 55 



* Fond as the wild-bee on the desert vale, 
f From every blossom sips delicious dew, 
« Be ours on joys profusely to regale, 

c And feast on pleasures various, sweet, and new. 
' Since Heav'n to man a lengthen d life denies, 
Then let him give to bliss each moment as it flies, 

i Sure he who ever dwells in bliss complete, 
i Delights to view our happiness the while - } 
t For this he bade the varying Seasons smile, 
1 And each desire congenial objects meet j 
f For this bade Fancy, with prophetic dream, 

• To Passion give the wings of keen Desire, 

f And made even Hope itself enjoyment seem, 
( And the slow mind with energy inspire. 



56 THE TROGRESS 



' To sterner lore ascetic fools may list, 

f And wretch' d pine in Contemplation's haunt, 

* Dead to all joy — to live is to be blest, 

4 And mine the task each wish of heart to grant, 
( Them distant joys in distant worlds be giv'n 5 
Be theirs the future still — ours be the present Heav'n. 

' Ne'er form'd was man to pass his moments here, 

f In studious toil, since all his toils are vain, 

' For never can his insect soul explain 

p Those laws that rule this universal sphere. 

' Ten thousand flowers has Summer round her thrown, 

"■ Then shall he be to all her beauties blind, 

* Tho' not to Reason, but to Passion, prone, 

: Not to seek Truth, but Happiness design'd. 



OF REFINEMENT. 57 



* Let cynics then, with fierce contention try, 

4 'Mongst jarring systems Truth's coy face to find, 
' Best is the sage who best can life enjoy, 
4 This is the true philosophy of mind. 
i Avails not Truth which adds not to delight, 
6 All else the rainbow chace, or meteor of the night. 

w Hail beauteous flowers ! that blossom in the gale, 

* Hail ye. gay birds ! that chaunt your morning song, 
' Hail wanton flocks ! that roam the vales, among 

' Gay insect tribes, and sportive fishes, hail ! 
' What time the Sun looks from his rosy bower, 

* On the green earth, and shews his laughing face, 

* Tis yours to give to joy each fleeting hour, 
; Till spent at Eve, he close his weary chace. 



58 THE PROGRESS 



4 Tis yours to live as Nature bids to live, 
1 Yours to fulfil her ever bounteous plan : 
( All other systems lead but to deceive > 

* The book of Nature is the guide of man. 

* Be blest/ is the first law to mortals giv'n, 

" The only end of man, — the only wish of Heav'n. 

In melting strains, thus Lux ry oft address'd 
The thick'ning crowds she to her palace drew, 
Herself in winning attitudes she threw, 
And every strain with suited action grac'd. 
And round her throne, in gaudy pomp, await, 
Intemp ranee, with her eyes confus'd and dim. 
And Vanity, that flaunts in empty state, 
By Fashion led, by Phantasy, and Whim, 



OF REFINEMENT. 5Q 



And pamper'd Sloth, and impotent Desire, 
And Indolence, nurs'd on the lap of Ease, 
And Lust, with giddy pace, and loose attire, 
Vers'd in each art that Vice has taught to please : 
Hypocrisy, in smooth politeness skill'd, 
And Scandal, an old hag, with secret rancour fhTd. 

And thro' these halls a mazy entrance wound, 
To an arch'd-gate whose valves were open flung, 
Dread o'er a steep, where mournful shadows hung, 
Where lo ! a huge, unshapely monster frown'd, 
Nam'd Ruin, — and of yore conceiv'd by Sin, 
When mad Ambition first had peopl'd Hell, 
Now shew'd his double teeth, with hideous grin, 
Now shook the echoing halls with franco yell ; 



DO THE PROGRESS 



And still on mischief would he love to pore, 
While with red ire his starting eye-balls flash'd,, 
And the sad tribes that sought his mournful door, 
Forth o'er the yawning precipice he dash'd. 
False shame returning penitents with-held, 
Whom Ruin down the gulf with fiercer wrath impell'd. 

But in that gulf, by the stern monster driv'n, 
Thy sons, O Luxury ! what ills await, 
W^here haggard Misery reigns in awful state, 
O'er lands ne'er lighten'd by a beam from Heav'n. 
There Poverty still mourn' d with dismal cry, 
There Madness gnaw'd her flesh with anguish -wild, 
There mute Despair dark roll'd his bursting eye, 
And call'd on Suicide his darling child. 



OF REFINEMENT. 6) 



And there, half-seen amid the twilight shade, 
Sat fell Remorse, his crimes still brooding o'er, 
Fierce on his liver still a viper prey'd, 
While burst his bloody sweat from every pore. 
And Grief, in Mem ry's glass, still lov'd to view 
Her former happy state, — then sobb'd and wept anew* 

But who the dire diseases can relate, 

That languish'd in this vale of cheerless gloom, 

There blue-ey'd Phthisis blush'd with hectic bloom.. 

Blest in her happy ignorance of Fate. 

There brawny Gout lay fetter'd on the ground, 

Convulsed with torture, and his eye-brows knit ; 

There Hydropsy, wi.th belly large and round. 

There Lethargy entranc'd in drowsy fit* 



62 



THE PROGRESS 



There maniac Fever, as a furnace glow'd, 
While, like a casement shaking in the wind, 
Her shattering teeth her chill sensations shew'd, 
While horrid visions fright her wand'ring mind, 
And Proteus-like a thousand shapes she chose ; 
And Apoplexy there lay sunk in deep repose. 

And there a nymph, with ever-changing mood, 
Or scream'd with laughter, or with sorrow cried, 
Hysteria nam'd, — while musing at her side, 
With vacant gaze, wan Melancholy stood. 
There too were seen the victims of Disease, 
Which but the magic touch of kings can heal ? 
And, like the aspin shaking in the breeze, 
There Palsy shook thro' all her members pale. 



OF REFINEMENT. 63 



Ye dismal realms ! where Ruin smiles at Woe, 
No more the Muse your mazes will explore, 
Where Lux ry's hapless race is doom'd to know 
The dire effects of her bewitching lore — 
Yet still she reign' d triumphant in our isle, 
And all her pleasures charm'd, all gladden'd in her smile. 



ARGUMENT. 



Introduction. ...Influence of Luxury still farther illustrated as 
weakening the body, enervating the mind, and imparting a disre- 
lish for the pleasures of rural nature....the folly and ingratitude of 
man, when contrasted with the beauty and grandeur of the uni- 
verse, designed as it is by its omniscient Author, for the con- 
templation and happiness of his rational creatures....Science how- 
ever is shewn to be still progressive, but becomes tributary mere- 
ly to Luxury, and advances not the moral and religious improve- 
ment of man*... Influence of Luxury on the Slave trade... .Its misery 
....Portrait of Avarice, and his attendant Care, and his influence 
likcwife on the mind as rendering it venal, selfish, and inhuman 
....Retrospect of the rise and progress of Superstition.. ..Her influ- 
ence during the dark ages .vanishes before the illumination of 
Science, diffused by the memorable invention of the Art of Printing 
....Address to this Art, illustrative of its beneficial consequences 
to Society....Concluding stanzas as to the effects of Luxury in- 
loosening the salutary restraints both of Reason and Christianity. 



i. 



THE 

PROGRESS OF REFINEMENT ; 

AN ALLEGORICAL POEM. 
CANTO III. 

bxY, thou dread Monarch of the earth and heaven,. 
That, from the expansive circle of the skies, 
Behold* st or nations fall or nations rise, 
True to those laws which thou thyself hast given, 
Shall men for ever trace their various round, 
Like growing moons soon tending to their wane, 
From rudeness to refinement's destin'd bound, 
Then into rudeness gradual sink again ? 

e 2 



6S THE PROGRESS 



Or comes a brighter age, till now unknown, 
That ne'er shall limit the career of mind, 
But from the Equator to the frozen Zone, 
Shall spread the charms of Science 'mongst our kind I 
Yet vain the spheres of intellect expand, 
When not with Science moves fair Virtue hand in hand. 

Thick from the soil that yields the beauteous flow'r 
Luxuriant brambles grow, and rankling weeds, 
'Tis thus in states, where Commerce Luxury breeds, 
Hiding then* very weakness in their power. 
The increasing gifts of Science and of Art, 
But soften toils that every fibre brace,. 
Unnerve the manly vigour of the heart, 
And nurse in nations an enfeebled race, 



OF REFINEMENT. QQ 



Is not the cheek suffus'd with freshest bloom, 
When thro' the frame the sickening hectics play ? 
Thus Wealth's proud palaces are Virtue's tomb, 
Where kingdoms in their seeming health decay 5 
And long have sunk in dark Oblivion's tide, 
Assyria's mighty pomp, and Persia's gorgeous pride. 

Where Memphis fear'd her proud walls to the skies.. 
Oft lows at misty eve the unconscious herd, 
And oft the wild goat shakes her snowy beard, 
Where Tadmor heap'd, on the lone desert lies. 
Fallen the splendid fane, where Judah's race . 
Perform'd their annual rites with holy joy, 
And the fierce Turk pollutes the hallow'd place, 
Where trembling Nature saw the Saviour die. 



70 



THE PROGRESS 



And mid the academic woods no more, 
Of classic Athens, walks the cultur'd Sage ; 
Where now her temples ? — where her virtuous lore ? 
Her matchless eloquence ? her polish'd stage ? 
All, all are gone, — even Rome herself decay d ; 
Shall then our sinking state their mournful doom evade I 

For, charm'd by Luxury's enchanting lyre, 
The British youth leave Virtue's stern controul, 
Dead to those nobler energies of soul 
That earth-born men to heavenly deeds inspire. 
Consumed by Passion's wild licentious fire, 
Even in green life they feel the woes of age. 
Thus trees are blasted by the light'ning's ire, 
And flow'rets wither'd by the tempests rage. 






OF REFINEMENT* J\ 



Robust no more, they dread the wintry reign, 
Nurs'd on the soft bed of voluptuous ease, 
While their weak nerves, too sensitive of pain, 
Shrink at the cold touch of the northern breeze, 
While by the chords of sympathy conjoin'd, 
Slow on its sickly frame, acts the impelling mind. 

Nor please the joys that cultur'd Nature yields ; 
Now the gay squire contemns his calm retreat, 
His rich domain, his pleasant country seat, 
His woods, his lawns, his vistas, and his fields. 
Farewel those haunts which Virtue learns to prize, 
Where Contemplation courts the sylvan maze ; 
Quick to the town, to Luxury's shrine, he flies, 
And, like an insect, flaunts in Fashion's blaze. 



7% THE PROGRESS 



In Tain to him, amid his woodlands green. 
The pure expansive stream is pour'd along, 
Or yellow Evening paints the soft'ning scene, 
Or from his hawthorns bursts the mattin song. 
Not such the charms, tho' charms unmingl'd these, 
Which thy corrupted sons, O Luxury ! can please. 

Then say, why Heaven unfolds the vernal flow'r, 
Or paints with varying hues the shadowy wood, 
In graceful error leads the tuneful flood, 
'. Or makes the spangling bow illume the show'r ? 
Or pours o'er shelving steeps the white cascade, 
Where weeping birch trees drink the cloudy spray ; 
Or tips, with trembling dews, the spiky blade, 
To sparkle in the blush of kindling day? 



OF REFINEMENT. J$ 



Or from his nightly couch, with roses dyed, 
Bids the Sun wake, rejoicing in his might, 
x^nd up Heav'n's azure vault, with'blazing pride, 
Roll his bright car, and scatter round his light ; 
Or hangs the Moon mid the star-cluster'd heav'n, 
While laugh the clouds that o'er her pensive disk aredriv'n ? 

Say, why those beauties the green earth displays, 
In hill, or dale, or wood, or living stream, 
Or which amid the Heav'n's vast concave beam, 
if not, O ! man, to charm thy wand'ring gaze ? 
Bloom not for thee the Seasons as they roll, 
Smile as they bloom, and vary as they smile, 
Yet give no bliss, no transport, to thy soul, 
Nor to Devotion melt thy heart the while ? 



74 THE PROGRESS 



Harmonious moves the universal frame, 
In beauty, order, majesty, and grace, 
Thou only, man, deform'st the lovely scheme,, 
And livs't a guilty blot on Nature's face. 
Thee to delight a universe was giv'n, 
Yet thou alone art dead to every bliss of Heaven. 

Do not the songsters tip their downy wings, 
And thro' the blue air wheel their tow'ring flight, 
And warbling pour their transports of delight, 
To send to Heaven that joy from whence it springs ? 
The flowers and trees look upwards to the skies, 
As if to point whence all their beauty flows -, 
Even the mute herds uplift their wond'ring eyes 
To smiling Heav'n, which all their good bestows. 



OF REFINEMENT. ?5 



Nay, from the bottom of the mighty deep, 
Comes the huge whale, and flounders on the brine, 
While from their cells ten thousand fishes leap, 
As if to view Heav'n's glorious face divine. 
But man, immortal, born to look on high, 
To earth, and earthly joys,, still bends his grovelling eye. 

Yet Science blooms, and Art improving still, 
And from effects still mounting to their cause, 
Shew, as they work, coy Nature's secret laws, 
Nay, even surpass her in their chemic skill. 
Who dreams the china that of finest mould, 
With the pure virgin snow in whiteness vies, 
With wavy margin veil'd in fluid gold, 
Was once the clay the marshy earth supplies ? 



7& THE PROGRESS 



Or that the chrystal, whose transparent glow- 
Outshines the sparkling dew drops of the mom, 
Was once a rude flint on the mountains brow, 
Or sleeky pebble by the billows worn } 
Thus Art, by fire, exerts his influence keen. 
And turns th' obdurate rock to spangling gems sefene. 

O ! Fire, thou minister of Heav'n below, 
That cheer' st all nature by thy vital charm, 
And into life evolv'st the embryo germ, 
Nursing the forms of being as they grow ! 
Tell, secret pow'r, how in remotest time, 
Art first to man thy use domestic taught, 
To blunt the rigours of a northern clime, 
And wake a torpid race to active thought 



OF REFINEMENT. 77 



Snatch'd he a faggot from the heaven-struck pine, 
By eddying winds to swift combustion whirl' d, 
Or seizM an ember from the ignited mine, 
Where the volcano shakes the affrighted world -, 
Or on the flint first struck the kindling rays, 
Or by attrition forc'd the arid wood to blaze. 

To thee Peruvian mountains yield their ores, 
Whate'er the earth, dark in her womb, contains, 
Mix'd with the rocks, or pregnant in their veins, 
Melts at thy touch, and pours its glisf ning stores. 
And every plant that blossoms on the soil, "' 
Blooms on the stream, or wantons on the sea, 
Its breathing odours yields, its balmy oil, 
Yields all its precious elements to thee- 



78 



THE PROGRESS 



Yet but avail the wondrous pow'rs of Art, 
That guide thy subtile influence, O Fire ! 
To raise new wants in the corrupted heart, 
And wake in pamper'd Vice some new desire ; 
For Art and Science serve but as they shine, 
To bring more baneful pomp to Luxury's dazzling shrine. 

Say, what avails the microscopic lens, 
Which to the eye reveals the wondrous scene, 
Where insect millions hold their short-livM reign, 
Minutest tribes, — that 'scape our grosser sense ? 
Or what with optic tube avails to trace 
Those spheres that whirling sound Time's rapid march, 
Whose laws, swift as they roll thro' shadowy space, 
Great Newton mark'd around the starry arch ? 



OF REFINEMENT. JQ 



Or what, tho' mid the blue ethereal way, 
Herschel some unknown wand' ring orb descry, 
Or in the fainter galaxy display 
Bright clust 'ring worlds to the astonish'd eye ? 
Tt nought avails, — while men from Nature's laws 
Rise not to Nature's God, their guide, support, and cause. 

Tis vain to know how in the lone dark cave 
The chrystal shoots, the stalaktite depends, 
As from the arch that o'er the streamlet bends, 
The dripping icicle o'erhangs the wave -, 
And vain to know how, wafted from the shore, 
The spiral shells, sprung from their insect slime, 
Form the huge rock, or pillar' d cavern hoar, 
Of snowy marble or cerulean lime. 



80 THE PROGRESS 



Or how the channel of the mighty deep, 
Upbeav'd by fire o'er the incumbent tides, 
Broke as it rose in mountains huge and steep, 
That wond'ring saw the billows lash their sides. 
Their shelvy sides, on which in later time 
The fluid granite pour'd its pond' rous floods sublime* 

In vain to know how from green Nature's lap 
Sprouts the young flow'r, and breathes the vital air, 
Shrinks in the shade, or opens in the glare, 
Or up its tubes propels the milky sap. 
In vain to know what first great Hervey shew'd, 
How, sent impetuous down the arterial maze, 
Warm from the heart, descends the purple flood, 
Or up the vein, with softer motion plays, 



OF REFINEMENT* 81 



Or how the breathing organs ceaseless toil, 
To rob the bland air of its slumb'ring flame, 
To keep alive life's wasteful torch the while, 
To give new vigour to the languid frame ; 
Or how the infant cherub made to grow, 
Clings to its parent breast, and drinks the orb of snow. 

It nought avails, tho' to the admiring soul, 
Art points to Science the unerring road, 
Or Science tells how Nature's matchless God 
Binds with fix'd laws the universal whole, — 
Tells how light issuing from the solar sphere, 
Reveals creation beauteous to the eye, 
And bids each hue of mingling light appear, 
In the gay flow'r, or crimson-margin'd sky ; 

F 



82 THE PROGRESS 



Tells how unseen from the expansive main, 
The silv'ry vapours rise thro' ether blue, 
Soon to return to the green earth again, 
Bright in the shower, or sparkling in the dew - 7 
Tells how mid tow'ring clouds, that beam afar* 
The electric flame awakes the elemental wan 

Or tells how drawn by soft attraction's chain, 
In peace, the jarring elements unite, 
To charm the laughing seasons in their flight, 
Yet Science all thy gifts to man are vain. 
For not the knowledge of fair Nature's page> 
Devotion wakes, or grov'ling Vice reforms, 
Or tames low Appetite's licentious rage, 
Or stills the lawless passions maddening storms* 



OF REFINEMENT. 83 



And not the knowledge of Heaven's bounteous Sire, 
Of Love still glowing with exhaustles flame, 
Inspires his children with the blest desire, 
6 To love each other as he loved them/ 
Themselves they give each thought to mankind due, 
The prey to fancied wants which Nature never knew. 

For thee, O Luxury ! the hapless slave 
Must till the earth, or dig the cheerless mine, 
His all the toils, but all the treasures thine, 
Which Commerce wafts triumphant o'er the wave. 
And the poor negro from his natal land, 
Where smiling Spring mid vales of cassia roves, 
Is by his tyrant-brother's ruthless hand, 
lorn from each object that his bosom loves. 

f 2- 



84 THE PROGRESS 



Lo ! how he marks the vessel's furrowy track, 
And strews with many a leaf the shifting floods, 
As wont to trace his devious footsteps back, 
Thro' the green alleys of his pathless woods. 
Too simple man I — not these shall guide thee home* 
Dispers'd even in thy sight, wide o'er the billowy foam, 

Tn vain, poor slave ! thou tear'st thy wooly hair, 

Or wistful look'st to Gambia's banks so wild. 

Where thy fond wife and little darling child 

Deplore their absent lord with many a tear. 

In vain, when Evening falls with soft'ning glow, 

They gaze from the green wigwam's matted door, 

To see thee homward ply the light canoe 

Up thine own stream, fraught with the finny store. 



OF REFINEMENT. 85 



And^vain thou furious struggl'st to be free, 
Rav'st on the deck, and clank'st thy cursed chain, 
Poor slave ! the white man feels no pang for thee, 
What christian hand relieves the negro's pain. 
Far from thy native streams and mountains borne. 
Thee waft the merc'less winds — ah ! never to return* 

But yet for- thee, far other ills are stor'd, 

In other lands, where doom'd thou art to bear 

One ceaseless toil, beneath the parching glare, 

To glut the coffers of thy niggard lord. 

Ah ' there, when sinking with a broken heart, 

Thou on the turf shalt lay thy weary head, 

Then must the lash thy bleading shoulders smart? 

While thy deep sighs in vain for pity plead. 



86 THE PROGRESS 



Yet Hope that on the wretch delighted smiles, 
O'er the green mountains shall thy fancy wing, 
Where dwell thy fathers in their roseat isles, 
Free as the winds, and lively as the spring. 
For soon to thee, forgetful of thy pain, 
There comes a peaceful land, where shall no tyrant reign. 

A place there is where all thy sorrows close, 
To pain oblivion/ and to care a balm, 
IShade from the heat, and from the storm a calm, 
Where shall at length the weary find repose. 
Oh ! 'tis a rest from anxious plodding toil, 
A silence which no tyrant's voice shall break, 
A long long night, on which no moon shall smile, 
A long long sleep, on which no dream shall wake* 



OF. "REFINEMENT. 87 



Oh ! 'tis a lonely, still, and peaceful bed,, 
Where shall no captive drag his clanking chain, 
Where thou, poor Slave ! shalt lay thy woolly head 
Down in sweet sleep, — nor rise to toil again ; 
No more by Luxury's pamper'd sons opprest. 
When lies the welcome sod, soft on thy slumb'ring breast . 

Such Luxury was thy reign, — yet of Wealth's brood 
Most fell was Avarice, darling of his sire, 
Whose heart ne'er glow'd with Friendship's sacred fire. 
Nor with his own e'er join d another's good. 
Charm' d with the heaps, and dazzl'd by the glare, 
Of cumb'rous treasures that from Wealth he drew* 
Around him still he cast a jealous stare, 
Fearing each noise the distant echoes threw. 



38 THE PROGRKSS 



Thus sat he in his vaulted chamber lone, 
Planning dire wiles the unwary to subdue, 
While thro' its grates his narrow window shone, 
Full on his meagre cheeks with deadly hue, 
As when by moonlight o'er his pictur'd saint 
The monk adoring bends, with visage wild and faint 

And oft beside him sat his sister Care, 
Avery ghost, with grief and watching spent, 
Pale on her snowy hand her head was bent, 
While o'er her face thick stream'd her matted hair. 
Dull on the earth her eyes were pensive thrown, 
Invincible to Sleep's delicious sway, 
Nor o'er her dismal heart had ever flown 
Those sportive dreams that round young Fancy play. 



OF REFINEMENT. 8§ 



Long from the maid the purple light had fled, 
That glows along the cheeks of dimpl'd health, 
Chief to the rich her hated court she paid, 
Lur'd by the vot'ries of her father Wealth, 
And spurn'd the humbler bower with rushes clad, 
Where slumbers sweet Content, soft on her mossy bed. 

Ah ! who can tell thou cruel selfish god ! 
What ills from thee to wretched man proceed, 
Thou bid'st the assassin plan his murd'rous deed, 
And bathe his guilty hand in guiltless blood. 
Impell'd by thee, man flies 'gainst man, to arms, 
Friend against friend, and furious contests wage j 
And even young Beauty yields her venal charms 
To the embrace of cold enfeebl'd Age. 



90 THE PROGRESS 



Impell'd by thee, with sordid lust of play, 
Whilst lost the parent in the gamster's name, 
The mother wears the eventful night away, 
Dead to each thought that Love and Nature claim. 
Ah ! say can hearts that feel no tender throe, 
In loveliest bosoms dwell like rocks hid under snow r 

Thus where is seen thy influence to extend, 
O Avarice ! flies every social thought, 
Sold is the friend, and is the mistress bought. 
Nor lives the wish that knows no selfish end ; 
No more the bosom throbs to Nature true, 
Nor weeps Compassion at Misfortune's shrine. 
Dissolved the tie which generous natures drew, 
That link of souls which Inf rest ne'er can twine. 



OF REFINEMENT. 9 1 



Round thee," O Fiend ! thou breath'st the baneful frost, 
That chills the streams cf melting Sympathy, 
Thy venal sons to patriot virtue lost, 
Feel not the fire that animates the free. 
Theirs is no wish, but to increase their store, 
Unblest 'midst all their joys, 'midst all their treasures poor. 

Thus Avarice, and 'witching Luxury hold, 
In our degen rate isle their baneful sway, 
Her chief the young, him most the old obey, 
Youth pleasure lures, and Age illusive gold. 
Yet live there still, whose souls superior towV, 
To the low cares that vex the sordid breast, 
Who greatly live in Merit's humble bower. 
And feel that to be good is to be blest ; 



Ofl THE PROGRESS 



Who court the tranquil shade, where Truth divine, 
With Contemplation haunts the sylvan dale, 
And decorate Religion's hallow 'd shrine, 
With fairest flowers that bloom in Science' vale, 
Their study Nature, Nature's God their theme, 
With peaceful bosoms steal down life's sequester'd stream. 

A time there was when the benighted sou), 
The servile chains of Supperstition wore, 
Whom Fear, on Ignorance, begot of yore, 
While trembling Nature shook from pole to pole ; 
And in her train the sister hags she drew, 
That thro' the storm in ( airy roundels' speed, 
Or round the magic cauldron, flaming blue, 
Lead the fell dance, and plan the hellish deed \ 



OF REFINEMENT. 93 

And sheety Ghosts that in the midnight gleam, 
And Wizzards that in cunning spells delight, 
And Fays that skim in acorns o'er the stream, 
That softly glimmers in the starry night, 
Or pace in airy rings the moonlight green, 
And Kelpies o'er the deep that light their torches sheen. 

And long she reign'd in the monastic shade, 
Up whose long aisles, mid the still solemn night, 
The Monk adoring led the taper' d rite, 
Or to the unconscious image bow'd his head. 
Or in the cloister dwelt the haggard dame, 
Where the young vestal, still to passion true, 
Oft with devotion mix'd a softer flame, 
And on the world still cast a wistful view* 



9^ THE PROGRESS 



And yelling fierce from Superstition's throne,, 
Wide o'er our isle unnumber'd terrors flew, 
But when the increasing charms of Science shone, 
Quick fled the Fiend, with all her ghastly crew, 
For Science knew no empire but her own, 
Till Luxury taught the nymph to worship at her throne. 

For that fam'd power that spreads amongst our kind 
The gifts of Art, — herself best gift of Art, 
Chac'd Superstition from the trembling heart, 
And from the world dispell' d the eclipse of mind. 
Hail, Printing ! fairest messenger of Truth, 
Who Knowledge keep'st from dark oblivion's tomb, 
Who givest to Science an immortal youth, 
And bid the flowers of Fancy ever bloom. 



OF REFINEMENT. Q5 



And as the Sun his blazing chariot drives, 
Up thro' the orient light'ning to his rays, 
All Nature at his vital touch revives, 
And every floweret gladdens in his blaze, 
So Briton smii'd when sunk in Gothic night, 
Thou pourd'st thy cheering blaze of intellectual light. 

Glad was the hour when by their peaceful fold, 
As Bethlehem shepherds watch'd their fleecy care^ 
Divine effulgence flll'd the midnight air, 
And seraph sounds a Saviour's advent told. 
So glad the hour when from the tenfold shade 
Of monkish night, again thy voice reveal'd 
The unmingled truths Heav'n erst to man convey'd, 
Which Vice corrupted, and which Fraud conceal' d, 



96 THE PROGRESS 



From that long night of twice five hundred years, 
Again thou bad'st the mental morning rise, 
Chac'dst from the trembling heart its slavish fears 
And taught' st on earth the wisdom of the skies, 
And bad'st the free-born soul of man disclaim 
The awe of earthly pow r, — the reverence of a name. 

Yes ! whenHeaven'slightincloister'dshadeswasshrin'd, 
And Superstition, raging o'er the world, 
O'er proudest thrones her demon thunders hurl'd, 
And on the altar forg'd the chains of mind, 
Thou cam'dst, — and bad'st a happier age unroll, 
Spread'st wide abroad the cheering beams of Heav'n. 
And from the Equator lightening to the Pole, 
What all concern'cj by thee, to all was giv'n. 



OF REFINEMENT. 97 



But on our isle chief shone thy brightest day, 
For soon its daring sons were taught by thee 
To spurn the inglorious bonds of tyrant sway, 
And feel that to be men — is to be free ; 
Were taught by thee in Freedom's cause to bleed;, 
To choose a patriot king, — and own a Christian creed. 

But now seduc'd by Luxury's fatal lore, 
They yield the heart to Passion's maniac sway, 
Whose tempests cloud the intellectual day, 
Thro' which the beams of Reason feebly pour. 
' Oh ! if e'er Virtue/ said the Attic sage, 
<w From god's 'mongst simple men should venture down 
' Her charms to love should every breast engage, 
( And men confess no empire but her own.' 

c 



THE PROGRESS 



At length she came, whom ancient Bards had sung;, 
And veiled celestial charms in mortal guise, 
To men the gates of Heaven asunder flung, 
And bade Hope soar, exulting to the skies. 
But Luxury's sons now spurn their sacred guide, 
Or toss'd on Passion's storm? or drown 'd in Pleasure's -tide* 



ARGUMENT. 



RECAPiTULATiaN....Britannia, compassionating the British isle, 
enthralled by Luxury, commissions her attendant nymphs to re- 
visit it, and awake the inhabitants from the languor into which 
they were sunk... .their descent.... their address to the Britons.... 
their influence....At the touch of Virtue the palace of Luxury is 
tlissolved....and she, stript of her deceitful charms, vanishes at 
length from the view.. ..Avarice, with his attendant Care, is like- 
wise destroyed....The poem concludes with a prayer for the eternal 
prosperity of the British empire. 



THE 

PROGRESS OF REFINEMENT ; 

AN ALLEGORICAL POEM. 
CANTO IV. 

1 hus have we sung, how in our native isle, 
Man, savage as his wilds, those wilds forsook, 
Resign'd the sword to grasp the shepherd's crook, 
Taught by young Art to soften weary toil. 
Taught by young Art the wand'ring herd to tame, 
And the rough wastes of nature to improve, 
While glow'd in simplest minds the softest flame, 
And woods and dales rung with the songs of love 5 



102 THE PROGRESS 



And have we sung, how Art to Commerce gave 
The mighty ship, to sweep across the tide, 
While every parent stream was seen to lave 
Some village swelling to the city's pride, 
When Wealth, lur'd from Columbia's palmy shore, 
Had to our sea-girt coast convey'd his baneful ore. 

Thus sang the Muse, then pour'd a sadder strain, 
How Luxury from Wealth and Commerce sprung, 
Parent of many woes, — nor left unsung, 
How Av'rice fir'd to lust of sordid gain > 
.But chief, how the soft queen from royal halls, 
Even spread to rural bowers her wid'ning sway, 
As when the stone in the smooth river falls, 
Quick to its banks expanding circles play ; 



OF REFINEMENT. 103 



How the once happy monarch of a shed. 
That knew no bliss beyond his sylvan cot, 
Sigh'd for unreal wants by Lux'ry bred, 
Sought the gay town, and spurn' d his humble lot. 
Sought the gay town, and join' d the giddy crew, 
And bade to Peace, and Love, and Nature's charms, adieu. 

And sung the Muse, how Art and Science came, 
To heap their choicest gifts at Luxury's shrine, 
How Commerce rov'd from Greenland to the line, 
Spoiling the world to bliss th' insatiate dame ; 
How torn for her, from Afric's woody shore^ 
Knows the poor negro no repose from toil ! 
How Virtue blooms, and Piety no more, 
Nor Love delights, nor simple manners smile. 



*04 THE PROGRESS 



Such was our theme, but now the bolder lyre 
Sublimer notes must breath from all its strings ; 
Me, fairest nymph, of fairest isle, inspire ) 
Come Liberty ! and guide my muse's wings ; 
May still to thee the sacred charge belong, 
To fire the Briton's heart, and swell the British song. 

High on her car of dazzling clouds reclin'd, 

Whose radiance round her pour'd, and from the sight 

Her beauty veil'd, — dark with excess of light, 

Britannia rode upon the viewless wind. 

And when her much-lov'd isle afar she view'd, 

Enthrall'd by Luxury's malignant power, 

Tears of compassion in her mild eyes stood, 

That shone like diamonds beaming thro' the shower: 



OF REFINEMENT, 105 



And thrice she sigh'd with bosom heaving slow > 

So heaves the ocean when the storms are past, 

While from that beauteous seat of grief and snow, 

She breath'd her plaint, soft on the listening blast, 

Around their queen the nymphs attendant hung, 

Charm'd with the sounds that fell melifluous from her 

[tongue. 

4 O thou whom frugal Nature nurs'd of yore, 

( In niggard climes, — far in a northern cave, 

; Where climbs o'er ice-pil'd steeps the aspiring wave, 

*- Fair Temperance descend to Albion's shore ! 

' And take with thee, with cheeks of rosy red, 

* Thy daughter Health, sweet smiling in thy train ; 

' And thou Religion ! that too long hast fled, 

■ And active Virtue, bless our isle again. 



106 THE PROGRESS 



' In British hearts the latent sparks excite, 
c That in their patriot sires were wont to burn, 
c And the whole state in firmest league unite, 
c Bewitching Lux'ry from their shores to spurn. 
* Her's be no more my Britons to enslave, 
' And rule with fatal sway — the green isle of the brave, 

' Yes ! lovely nymphs ! ye only can restrain 
1 Or Avarice, or Lux'ry' s baneful sway, 
' Or on the sceptic pour conviction's ray, — 
e The reign of Reason is Religion's reign. 
1 Alone your power a manly race can rear, 
' Or wake the bosom from its sensual spell, 
c And from the palace to the rural sphere, 
' Again make all the simpler graces dwell, 



OF REFINEMENT. 10^ 



' Then shall the fairest island of the west, 
' As green it rises from its circling tide, 
c The best in manners, as in arms the best, 
* Thro' all the nations spread its influence wide. 
c Yes ! there divine Religion be thy throne, 
: And thro' the world ex tend thy power fromzoneto zone.' 

She ceas'd, — the nymphs assenting by their smiles, 

Aslant the chrystal azure quickly flew, 

To that fair land which once they fondly knew, 

To Albion swelling mid its c lust' ring isles. 

' We come,' they cried, ' your fatal spells to break, 

' Shame ! thus dissolv'd in Lux'ry's charms to lie, 

< Then Britons from your sensual dreams awake., 

i Better than live inglorious — is to die! 



108 THE PROGRESS 



e Say, were these rugged fields by Nature giv'n, 
* O'er which your giant oaks their branches throw, 
c And these proud hills that lift their brows to Heav'n, 
' Beat by the storms, and whiten'd by the snow, 
e Were these by Nature destin'd as the scene, 
Where Luxury should hold her soft voluptuous reign ? 

c Not thus ignobly were our sires subdu'd, 

e Better, they said, the dead man than the slave, 

f Ours be the smiles of Freedom, or a grave, 

' The bliss of Britons is their country's good. 

1 Such were the heroes of a better age, 

6 Whose manly spirits spurn'd each base controul, 

< No soft delights could quench their noble rage, 

< Theirs was the Warrior's form, the Patriot's soul 



OF REFINEMENT. 109 



i And live their sons in wretch'd thrall to lie 
e On the soft lap of Luxury reclin'd, 
e Who smiles to kill, and lures but to destroy, 
' Consumes the body, and unnerves the mind ? 
' O more than woman soft, — arise again ! 
e Shake off disgraceful sloth, and feel that you are men. 

* Say, of the creatures of this nether sphere, 
' Was man alone endu'd with Reason's sway ? 
' Then shall he give each untam'd passion play, 
' And lend to Lux'ry's 'witching voice his ear. 
' Came he for this, fair from his Maker's hand, 
c With Heaven's own image stamp'd upon his breast, 
' Monarch of Nature, destin'd to command, 
f Yet be himself with basest bonds opprest > 



110 THE PROORESS 



c And was he doom'd in mental charms to shine, 
< And lovelier still, in bliss and goodness rise, 
' Near, and more near, perfection's source divine, 
' As clouds grow brighter as they reach the skies, 
c Then waste in low pursuits your manly prime, 
r Tho' form'd with brow erect, to gaze on things sublime ? 

' Around you all move to their natures true, 

' Whither the ocean swells, the river plays, 

1 Or seasons bloom, or circling planets blaze, 

c Unvarying, all their various ends pursue. 

' Then, form'd for heav'n, shall ye to earth be chain'd ? 

c Inspir'd with Reason, yet by Folly sway'd, 

' Feeble, e'er ye to manhood have attain'd, 

' And in green life with wild excess decay'd. 



OF REFINEMENT. HI 



r O ! say, for this were Art and Science giv'n, 
* For this celestial truths to man conveyed ? 
'Awake ! arise ! let Luxury be driv'n 
r Far from your isle., where she too long has staid. 
c Awake ! arise ! and break her cursed spell, 
When to obey is guilt, — 'tis wisdom to rebel.' 

Thus as they sung the Britons round them crowd, 
For rous'd from Lux'ry's spell they starting woke, 
And struck, as if by lightening' s smarting shock, 
They on the enchantress direful vengeance vow'd. 
When lo ! touch' d by the nymphs her beauties fled, 
No more to charm — a haggard witch she grew, 
Disease her cheeks with sickly yellow spread, 
Her rheumy eyes scarce glar'd their sockets thro', 



112 THE PROGRESS 



And soon, like shrivell'd leaves, all shrunk and dry, 
Her skin became, till scarce herself she knew, 
Such as she ever seem'd to Virtue's eye, 
Then melting into flame, away she flew. 
Next Av rice, 'neath his hoards, they buried deep, 
And sleepless Care consign' d to never-ending sleep. 

And soon that palace, blazing on the light, 
Where Lux'ry dwelt, so charming once and fair, 
On all the hellish crew that harbour'd there, 
Fell crashing loud, and faded on the sight. 
Yes ! struck by Virtue all dissolv'd away, 
Like ice-pil'd mountains floating from the Pole, 
Which, soon as touch'd by equatorial day, 
Melt in the roaring tides that round them roll? 



OF REFINEMENT. 113 



Or as the bow'rs which Fancy's fingers twine, 
Fade with the blissful reign of airy dreams-, 
Or as the Fays that gay in moonlight shine, 
Quick flit away before the morning beams ; 
So of the fairy halls to Lux'ry rear'd, 
Was left no trace behind — all, all had disappear'd, 

Thus when 'mid Summer's pure cerulean skies, 
When not a zephyr cools the sultry hours, 
Cloud upon cloud in bright disorder tow'rs, 
And blazing groups in forms fantastic rise, 
Then loves the eye in the etherial clime, 
Some fancied semblance wond'ring to behold, 
Some goddess o'er her train enthron'd sublime, 
Bold rocky shores, or towns of blazing gold 5 

H 



IH -THE PROGRESS 



Or loves the eye to view their image cast, 
Distinct and fair, on the smooth lake's expanse > 
Or while it. undulates soft to the blast, 
Admires the scene in gay reflection dance : — 
Sudden the thunder roars, the light'nmgs glare, 
Then all the cloud-form' d show dissolves in liquid air* 

Isle of Britannia ! while thou spurn'st the wave, 
Spurn Lux'iy from thy rude romantic coast $ 
Safe from each proud invader's haughty boast, 
Still be thy walls the bosoms of the brave. 
And blest, O loveliest island of the main ! 
Beneath thy guardian goddess' fost'ring care, 
In thee may Love and Freedom ever reign, 






Thy sons, still loyal, as thy daughters fair ! \ 



OF REFINEMENT. 3 15 



And may thy blessings reach lerne's shore. 
Where weeps Humanity at Discord's shrine, 
May Faction frame his hellish pike no more, 
Nor more her badges green,, Rebellion twine, 
In peace secure, long may thy sister isle, 
Grow with thy growing strength, and gladden in thy smile! 



B 2 



NOTES. 



•Page 6. Ncr paused or. Nature s charms , nor mnsd on Nature s God.- 

JWan in his savage state is almost exclusively occupied in pro* 
curing the means of his subsistence. The objects around him at- 
tract not his observation, except those which minister to his 
wants. He pauses not to contemplate the beauty or grandeur of 
the universe. The sun rises and sets, the seasons revolve, with- 
out once exciting his curiosity or his admiration. Whence origin- 
ated the world I inhabit, or by what laws is 1 it governed, — are 
questions which never occur to the mind of a savage. Curiosity* 
indeed, is a principle which marks considerable advances in civi- 
lization. Strange or monstrous appearances may sometimes 
arrest his attention, or penetrate him with terror; but the usual 
phenomena of nature pass by unobserved by the incurious eye 
of uncivilized man. Like the brutes, he is moved rather by his 
appetites than his understanding ; he is the child of instinct rather 
than the pupil of reason. c Their vacant countenance,' says Dr. 
Robertson, speaking of some of the South -American tribes, * their 

* staring unexpressive eye, their listless inattention, and their total 
e ignorance of subjects which seem to be first that should oc- 
« cupy the thoughts of rational beings, made such an impression 

* on the Spaniards, when they first beheld these rude people, that 
they considered them as animals of an inferior order, and could 



118 NQTE3. 

£ not believe that they belonged to the human species.' The same 
features may be observed in the character of all savage tribes. 
The history of rude nations is surprisingly uniform. None of 
those causes have then begun to operate, which create such di- 
versity amongst men in their civilized state. Those peculiarities 
produced by education, religion, and government, are not then 
perceived to exist. Climate, to which so little is to be ascribed, 
in appreciating the character of a refined people, forms the chief 
diversities in that of savage tribes. The country we inhabit was, 
doubtless, as well as all others, in that state of pristine rudeness 
which is alluded to in the first five stanzas of the text, and that 
form, it is conceived, no improper introduction to a poem, which 
presents to the fancy, under an allegorical form, some of the great 
outlines of the rise and progress of civilization. 



Page 10. Oft iv as the sbiv ring savage iwnt tojiy 

J\did shelf ring ivoods to shield his naked form, 

A savage wishing to avoid the storm would naturally betake 
himself to the woods for shelter. But as the woods could not af- 
ford him that shelter during a great part of the year, he would 
be led by necessity, that great parent of invention, to erect a 
bower, or •wigwam, to himself of the branches of trees, fixed in 
the ground, and woven together at top. This being the simplest 
tenement which can be constructed by man, is therefore of the 
most obvious contrivance. And as in the hunting state he would 
frequently have occasion to make wide excursions in pursuit of 
game, the idea of contriving a portable boiver or tent would next 
occur to him, beneath which. he could always find shelter when 
distant from his usual residence, or overtaken by night, or the 
storm. The skins of wild beasts, taken in the chace, would afford 
him proper materials for these. Hence the origin of the phrase.. 



NOTTS'. 119 

tre sub prfUbus. l Some of the American tribes' (says'the author 
above referred to,*) ' were so extremely rude, and had advanced 

* so little beyond the primeval simplicity of nature, that they had 
1 no houses at all. During the day, they take shelter from the 
i scorching rays of the sun under thick trees ; at night they form 
' a shed with their branches and leaves. In the rainy season they 

* retire into covers formed by the hand of nature, or hollowed 
« out by their own industry. Others who have no fixed abode, 
1 and roam through the forests in quest of game, sojourn in tempor- 
1 ary huts, which they erect with little labour, and abandon with- 
« out any concern .' 



Page 13. Thus Beauty charnCd nvien nozu perceived her charms. 

In the hunting state love never rises into the dignity of senti- 
ment. It exists only as a brutal appetite, which is gratified as soon 
as felt. Almost exclusively occupied in providing for his sub- 
sistence, the savage possesses but little of that leasure so favour-? 
"able for nursing and maturing the passion of sex. Besides, ere 
the acquisition of property has given rise to distinction of ranks, 
men, nearly upon a level with each other, discover little rivalship 
in the pursuit of the objects of their affection. Hence there is 
scarcely any passion where there is no difficulty of posses- 
sion. Inspired with no refinement in his appetites, the savage 
discovers but little preference in the objects which excite them- 
and beauty is not valued which is not admired. The low estima- 
tion in which women are held among rude tribes^ strikingly il- 
lustrates the truth of these observations. 

The poems of Ossian, however, composed in the hunting state 
of society, which presupposes great rudeness and barbarity * 
"breathe a refinement in the passion of love which is truly remark- - 

* Dr. Robertson, 



IJ20 SOTES. 

able ; and is apt to suggest doubts as to their authenticity in the 
mind of the philosopher, not merely because this peculiarity of 
the Celtic muse appears not in the most ancient records of Gothic 
poetry, but also because it goes to substantiate a fact anomalous 
in the history of mankind. It is true, indeed, that the northern 
nations have always been remarkable for their gallantry; but we 
seek in vain in the fragments of the Runic muse, which have come 
down to us, for those delicately sentimental effusions which so 
peculiarly distinguish the Celtic bard.. 



Page 15. And men are ruVd en earth by terrors draivn from Heavn, 

* The religion of the Britons was one of the most considerable 
c parts of their government ; and the Druids, who were their 

* priests, possessed great authority amongst them.'— { No species 
' of superstition was ever more terrible than that of the Druids. 
f Besides the severe penalties which it was in the power of the 

* ecclesiastics to inflict in this world, they inculcated the eter- 
c nal transmigration of souls; and thereby extended their authori- 
' ty as far as the fears of their timorous votaries.' See Hume's Eng, 
chap.i. See also Comment. Casaris, Lib. sext. ds bello GalUco, cap. 



Ibid. As l&aruo Capac and his beauteous bride;. 

6 After they,' (the Peruvians),/ had struggled for several ages 
* with the hardships and calamities which are inevitable in this 
; barbarous state, and when no circumstance seemed to indicate 
1 the approach of any uncommon effort towards improvement, 
6 we are told, that there appeared on the banks of the lake 
■ litiaca, a man and woman of majestic form, and clothed in de- 
c cent garments. They declared themselves to be the children 



fcOTES. 121 

c of the Sun, sent by their beneficent parent, who beheld with 
c pity the miseries of the human race, to instruct and to reclaim 
' them. At their persuasion, enforced by reverence for the Di- 
' vinity, in whose name they were supposed to speak, several of the 
' dispersed savages united together, and receiving their command 5 

* as heavenly injunctions, followed them to Cuzco, where they 

* settled, and began to lay the foundations of a city. Manco 
' Capac and Mama OcqIIo, for such were the names of those ex- 

* traordinary personages, having thus collected some wandering 
' tribes, formed that social union which, by multiplying the de- 
' sires, and uniting the efforts, of the human species, excites in- 
« dustry, and leads to improvement. Manco Capac instructed 
« the men in agriculture, and other useful arts.' — Robert. Amer, 
vol. iii. book 6. 



Page 17. happy age of siveet ingenuous love y &c. 

It is in the pastoral state in which men begin to acquire pro- 
perty from the art of taming and pasturing cattle ; and when 
leisure is afforded them for indolent gratifications, that the pas- 
sion of sex seems first to rise into importance in society. A rival- 
ship then frequently arises among shepherds of the same rank, 
in obtaining the objects of their affections : * love is enhanced 
4 by the difficulty of possession, and each of the lovers is prompt- 
' ed to make use of all the arts of which he is capable to gain the 
« object of his ardent affection. But the delays and uneasiness to 

< which he is thereby subjected, serve only to heighten his eager- 
« ness and solicitude in the pursuit of his favourite enjoyment ; 

< and he is wholly engroffed by those tender ideas which inflame 

< his imagination, and become the subject of those rude but ei- 
* pressive songs which he is accustomed to compose for his or- 



j22 notes. 

< dinary pastime and amusement.' — See Miller on ranis, sect. HI. 
fage 50. 

' Though it cannot be doubted,' says the same author 3 ' but 
c the poets have blended a great deal of fiction with those repre- 
1 sentations they have given us of a golden age, yet there is rea- 

• son to believe, that, in these agreeable pictures of the pastoral 
c age, they have only embellished the traditions which were 
« handed down to them. Hence the foundation of that particular 
' species of poetry, which is now appropriated by fashion to de- 
' scribe the pleasures of rural retirement, accompanied with in- 
' nocenee and simplicity of manners, and with the indulgence of 

* all the tender passions.' 



Page* 23. Or frotn Potosi bears the silver ore. 

« The famous mountain of Potosi, in Peru, is known all over, the 

* commercial world, for the immense quantity of silver it has pro- 
' duced. The discovery of this amazing treasure happened at trie 
' commencement of the year 1545, by a fortuitous accident. An 
c Indian, called Hualpa, pursuing some wild goats up this mountain, 
« and coming to a very steep part, laid hold of a shrub, in order to 
1 ascend with greater celerity ; but the shrub being unable to sup. 

* port his weight, came up by the roots, discovering at the same 

* time a mass of fine silver, and some lump:; of the same metal 

* among the clods that adhered to the roots. The Indian, who 
1 lived at Porco, hastenened home with the first fruits of his dis- 
' covery, washed the silver and made use of it, repairing when 

* his stock was nearly exhausted to his abundant resource. At 

* length a friend of his, named Guanca, observing the happy 
1 change in his circumstance;, became curious to know the cause, 
« and was so importuante in hisj-e^uests, that Hualpa at length re- 



NOTES. 123 

z sealed the secret to him. For some time they repaired in eon- 

* cert to the mountain, and obtained abundant supplies; till Hual- 

* pa refusing to impart his method of purifying the metal, Guanca 
' revealed the important secret to his master Villaroel, a Spaniard, 
' who also lived at Porco. On this information he went, in April 

* 1545, to view this rich aperture in the mountain; and the mine 
c immediately began to be worked with immense advantage. — 
« A Spanish author asserts, from very good authority, that before 

* the year 1638 it appeared, by the public accounts, that the pro- 
1 (luce of the silver amounted to three hundred and ninety -five millions 

* six hundred and nineteen thousand dollars ; which, in 93 years, the 

* time it had then been discovered, amounted to forty- one milions 
1 ttvo hundred and jifty -five thousand and forty-three dollars per annum.' 
■ — Paynes' Geography Extracts* 



Page 23. Or from Golconda the bright diamond brings, 

4 The kingdom of Golconda extends 260 miles along the bay of 
1 Bengal, and about 200 miles where broadest, from east to west. 
< This country has neither mines of gold, silver, nor copper : it 
* has many of salt and fine iron; but it is most remarkable on ac- 
« count of its diamond mines, which have rendered it very famous,]. 
'—Paynes'' Gtograph. Extends. 



Page 29. '• — — in Caxamalcas bowers, 

Pie sei%d the imperial treasures of Peru. 

Alluding to the treacherous seizure, by Pizzarr>, of the Inca of 
Peru, at the town of Caxamalca, on which occassion the riches 
obtained from the plunder of the royal equipage first gave to the 
Spaniards an extravagant idea of the enormous wealth of the Pe- 
ruvian empire. 



124 NOTES» 



Page 30. And Guatimozin even in torture brave. 

Cortes, * without regarding the former dignity of Guatimozin, 

* or feeling any reverence for those virtues which he had display - 

* ed, subjected the unhappy monarch, together with his chief 

* favourite, to torture, in order to force from them a discovery 
' of the royal treasures, which it was supposed they had concealed. 
' Guatimozin bore whatever the refined cruelty of his tormentors 
4 could inflict, with the invincible fortitude of an American war- 
' rior. H's fellow-sufferer, overcome by the violence of the an- 
; guish, turned a dejected eye towards his master, which seemed 
e to implore his permission to reveal all that he knew. But the 

* high-spirited prince, darting on him a look of authority mingl- 
4 ed with scorn, checked his weakness by asking, i; Am I now 
" reposing on a bed of flowers ?" — Robert. Amer. vol ii,/. 249. 



Page 35. Leaast thou thy Spenser thro 1 new fairy dimes. 

The misfortunes of this great poet are well known, which 
he paints in the following stanzas, admirably descriptive of the 
misery of depending on courts and great persons. 

« Full little knowest thou that hast net try'd, 

* What hell it is in suing long to bide: 

* To lose good days that might be better spent, 

* To waste long nights in pensive discontent : 
4 To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow, 

4 To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow ; 
1 To have thy prince's grace, yet want her peer.-, 
4 To have thy asking, yet wait many years : 



NOTES. 125 



8 To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares, 
' To eat thy heart with comfortless despairs ; 

* To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride, to run, 

* To spend, to give, to want, to be undone.* 



Page 35. Or ivith thy Butler pin st in cheerless tuant s 
Who laslod a frantic age in careless rhymes, 

1 No composition abounds so much as Hudibras in strokes of 
1 just and inimitable wit.' — * The advantages which the royal 
1 cause received from this poem, in exposing the fanaticism and 
< false pretences of the former parliamentary party, was pro- 

* digiou-. The king himself* (Charles II,) 'had so good a taste 
1 as to be highly struck with the merit of the work, and had even 
4 got a great part of it by heart ; yet was he either so careless in 
' his temper, or so little endued with the virtue of liberality, or, 

* more properly speaking, of gratitude, that he allowed the author, 
' who was a man of probity and virtue, to live in obscurity, and 
1 die in want .'— Humes England. 

1 When Hudibras was known,' says Dr. Johnson, * it was neces- 
; sarily admired : the king quoted, the courtiers studied, and the 
1 whole party of the royalists applauded it. Every eye watched 
'■ for the golden shower which was to fall upon the author, who 
' certainly was not without his part in the general expectation. — - 

* But praise was his whole reward/ 



Page $(). Or Jonson mourn st our laughter skill 3 d to move. 

This ingenious, though unfortunate, poet, was subjected to 
great want in the last years of his life, during the reign of 



T26 N-OT-ES. 

Charles I. c That monarch, 5 as Hume informs us, < was re- 

* proached with want of generosity to Ben Jon son, to whom 

* he sent too small a sum, when this poet, old, poor, and sickly, 
1 begged some relief of him. 1 * I am lodged in an alley,' faid the 
splenetic wit, when he received the present, * but I see from the 

* extent of his- bounty that his Majesty's soul is lodged in an al- 
1 ley.' 



Page 2>$* 0*" him ivbo sung JWonimias tragic love. 
Yet sung no tale so tragic as bis own. 

c Otway having been compelled by his necessities to contract 
''debts, and hunted, as is supposed, by the terriers of the law, re- 
' tired to a public house on Tower-hill, where he is said to have 
< died of want ; or, as it is related by one of his biographers, by 

* -swallowing, after a long fast, a piece of bread which charity 

* had supplied.. He went out, as is reported, almost naked, in 

* the rage of hunger, and finding a gentleman in a neighbour- 
4 ing coffee- house, asked him for a shilling. The gentleman 
( gave him a guinea ; and Otway going away bought a roll , 
f ~and was choked with the first mouthful.'— Jonsons Lives. 



Page 38. And Medivay, •whom 'twas thine old Thame to wed. 

Alluding to Spenser's beautiful episode in the Fairy Queen, of 
the marriage of the Thames and the Med way. 



NOTES. 127 



L Page 38. White on ivhose waves are thousand satis unfurVd, 

« Nothing can possibly convey to the mind a more exalted idea of 
£ the proud height to which the commerce of the city of London has 
1 arrived, than the estimates of its imports and exports,' — * Thirteen 

* thousand five hundred vessels, (besides a numerous river craft)? 
e arriving and sailing from a single port in the course of a year, 

* and bringing and carrying away property to the extent of be- 
< tween sixty and seventy millions sterling ; which produces a gross 
' revenue of six millions a-year in the customs, independent of the 
' immense imposts of excise, cannot fail to establish a very high 

* idea of the great opulence of the metropolis, and of the unparallel- 
4 ed resources which can move and keep afloat such a vast com- 
c mercial system— which amounted only to one third of its present 

* extent in the year 1753, and is now equal to three-fifth parts of 

* the whole trade of Fngland.' — Colauhouns Treat, en the Police of 
London. 



Page 43. / thou zuho charm dst the Bard by Mulla s stream, 

Spenser had an estate granted to him by Queen Elizabeth, in 
the county of Cork in Ireland, for his services as secretary to 
Lord Grey of Wilton, then deputy of that kingdom. The river 
Mulla ran through his grounds, on the banks of which he fre- 
quently invoked the muse; to this he alludes in the following 
stanza from the Shepherd of the Ocean : 

* I. sate as was my trade, 

c Under the shade of mole that mountain hore, 

4 Keeping my. sheep amongst the cooly shade 

' Oi the green elders by the Mulla shore/ 



128 NOTES. 

In his beautiful episode of the \ of the Th?me c ?nd the 

Medway, in the Fairy Queen, he again introduces his favourite 
stream. 

* And Mulla mine, whose, waves I whilom taught to weep-* 
F» SPueen, Ecck iv. canto xi. v, 41. 



Page 76. Tell sacred poivr- ho*m in remotest time 
Art Jirst to man thy use domestic taught. 

An acquaintance with the nature of fire, and the appropriation 
of it to those purposes to which it may be made subservient, is 
certainly the most important and necessary discovery with which 
man is acquainted. To this must be ascribed the invention of the 
metals, without which the sciences, as well as the arts, should 
ever have continued extremely rude and imperfect. Iron, the 
most useful of the metals, is not found to exist m nature in its 
metallic form ; and it is only by means of fire that this substance 
can be fitted for the use of man. It is almost wholly, indeed, to 
the agency of this fluid that we are indebted for those beautiful 
discoveries in science and the arts, which are the pride and won* 
der of modern times, and the effects of which will descend to the 
latest posterity. 

As man could hardly exist without this art, so it has been 
found in almost every part of the inhabited globe. Few, indeed > 
are the tribes among whom a knowledge of the application of fire 
to domestic purposes, at least, may not be traced up to the re- 
motest periods of their tradition and history. Nor are we to re- 
ly much on the testimony of the credulous Pliny, who informs 
us, ' quibusdam ante Ptolomseum Lathyrum regem Egypti, ig- 
1 notus fuit usus ignium.' * In the new world, where human 

* Plin. Nat. hist. lib. vi. cap. $0, 



NOTES. 129 

nature has been found in the rudest state in which it can he con- 
ceived to exist, the application of fire was known to the most bar- 
barous nations. Yet such a discovery appears not extremely ob- 
vious. For, to suppose that when men first found fire they were 
able to preserve and to make use of it, implies that previous ex~ 
perience of its nature of which they must then have been per- 
fectly ignorant. * Besides,' to use the words of Dr. Hawkesworth, 
4 its effects would naturally strike those to whom it was a new 

* object with consternation and terror ; it would appear to be an 
1 enemy to life and nature, and to torment and destroy whatever 

4 was capable of being destroyed or tormented ; and, therefore, 

< it seems not easy to conceive what should incline those who first 
« saw it receive a transient existence from chance to produce it 

* by design. It is by no means probable, that those who first 
s saw fire approached it with the same caution as those who are 
' familiar with its effects, so as to be warmed only and not burn- 

* ed ; and it is reasonable to think, that the intolerable pain 
' which, at its first appearance, it must produce upon ignorant 
1 curiosity, would sow perpetual enmity between this element 
i and mankind ; and that the same principle which incites them 

* to crush a serpent would incite them to destroy fire, and avoid 

* all means by which it would be produced, as soon as they were 

< known. These circumstances considered, how men became 

5 sufficiently familiar with it to render it useful, seems tp be a 

* problem very difficult to solve.' 

As the greater part of the habitable earth seems, at one period, 
to have been an almost uninterrupted forest, and as extensive 
forests' are frequently kindled by that electricity which they so 
powerfully attract from the clouds, it is very probable that savage 
man first became familiar with fire, learned to detect its qualities, 
and to convert it to his comfort and his use, from those long con- 
tinued conflagrations to which we allude. He might also haye 

I 



130 NOTES. 

accidentally learned to produce it, and gradually to have acquir- 
ed some knowledge of its nature by the collision and attrition o£ 
bodies, an art generally known indeed to the most barbarous, 
tribes. The eruption of volcanoes might likewise have imparted, 
to those living in their neighbourhood, some acquaintance with 
fire ; and a discovery so necessary to man would be rapidly and 
extensively diffused among the species. Thus a knowledge of the 
application of fire, like most other discoveries, might at first 
have been accidental. Scarcely, however, can we suppose, that 
fche Deity should have placed man on this world, without ac- 
quainting him with the use of a fluid so essential to his comfort 
and happiness; and the striking utility and simplicity of this art 
should preserve it for ever amongst men, after they had once been 
made acquainted with it. Milton alludes to the manner of this 
discovery, in that passage in Paradise Lost, in which Adam sug- 
gests consolation to Eve in those many comforts which still re- 
mained to them, after their expulsion from Eden,. 

6 And teach us further by what means- to shun 
c Th' inclement seasons, rain, ice, hail, and snow, 
i Which now the sky, with various face, begins 
' To shew us in this mountain ; while the winds 
' Blow moist and keen, shattering the graceful locks 

* Of these fair spreading trees: which bids us seek 

1 Some better shroud, some better warmth to cherish 

* Our limbs benumb'd ; e'er this diurnal star 

* Leave cold the night, how we his gather'd beams 

* Reflected, may with the matter sere foment ; 
c Or, by collision of two bodies, grind 

* The air attrite to fire ; as late the clouds 

* Justling, or push'd with winds rude in their shock, 

c Tine the slant lightning ; Whose thwart fame drivn dcw;^ 



NOTE'S. 131 

* Kindles the gummy bark ofjir and pine ; 

c And sends a comfortable heat from far, 

« Which might supply the sun. Such fire to use, 

* And what may else be remedy, or cure 

f To evils, which our own misdeeds have wrought, 

* He will instruct us, praying.'— 



Page 79. Or In the fainter galaxy display 
Bright clustering ivorlds 



These lines allude to the discovery of Herschel, that the galaxf, 
or milky way, owes its light entirely to multitudes of small stars, 
placed so close to each other that the naked eye, or even ordi- 
nary telescopes, cannot perceive them. 



Ibid. Hhe spiral shell sprung from their insect slime a - 

The infinite number of testaceous substances foundln the cal- 
careous strata of the earth impress the mind with conviction 
of the marine origin of these strata. Shells may be observed in 
them in all their states of decay, from the perfectly formed pery- 
winkle muscle, &c. &c. to their minutest fragments. In the 
black marble, as well as in many other substances, the entire 
form of the shells contained in them is frequently very beautiful 
and striking ; and if such relics appear not in spars and stalac- 
tites, it is because these have been formed from a previous state 
of solution. How so considerable part of the globe should be 
indebted for its origin to the minute incrustations of marine ani- 
mals forms one of the most curious and interesting subjects ia- 
the history of nature. 

I 2 



Ih'i NOTES. 



Page 80. Or hoiv of yore the channel of the deep, 
Upheavd by fre. • •• ■ ... 

The theory of the Huttonians, or Plutonists as they are now 
called, is here alluded to, not because it is believed that this 
theory, ably as it has been supported, forms a satisfactory account 
of the earth's formation, but merely because it is the only one 
which has yet appeared upon this most curiously interesting sub- 
ject, which wears a philosophical form, and which is even pre- 
tended, by its votaries, to be founded on a chaste induction of 
facts. 



Ibid. Sprouts the young flower, and breathes the 'vital air. 

The atmosphere is well known to be contaminated by the re- 
spiration of animals ; and was there no cause by which it might 
be renewed and purified, it would soon be rendered wholly unfit 
for their existence. But the leaves of vegetables are, by a bcauti- 
ful economy of nature, made to perform this neceflary function, 
For these, when exposed to the beams of the sun, afford that con- 
tinual supply of vital air, by. the decomposition of carbonic acid 
and water, which is sufficient to restore to the atmosphere that 
purity which it had lost, and to keep it always fit for - the sup- 
port of flame, and respiration of animals. 



Pao-e 8l. Or hoiv the breathing organs ceaseless toll, 
To rob the bland air of its slumbering fame. 

Respiration has been defined, as it generally takes place in ani- 
mals, * a function which brings the blcod into contact with ths 



NOTES. 133 

s fluid in which they live.' It may be neceiTary to state, that, in 
the process of respiration, the vital air inhaled combines with the 
carbon disengaged from the blood in the course of the circulation. 
The capacity of that fluid for retaining heat being thus diminished, 
much beat is disengaged in a sensible form, which, combining with 
the blood, is now allowed by chemists to be the great source of ani- 
mal heat. ' Respiration is in fact, 5 (says M. Fourcroy), ' but a 
s slower combustion, in which part of the heat of vital air enters 

* the blood as it passes through the lungs, and is by it conveyed 

< through the whole body. In this manner animal bodies re- 
« ceive their supplies of heat, which are absolutely necessary, as 

< they are constantly giving out the heat which they contain to 
1 the atmosphere and other surrounding bodies. To maintain the 
' heat of the blood is therefore one of the chief purposes of re- 

* spiration ; and this beautiful theory explains why the blood of 
' those animals that respire either no air, or but very little, is 
i always cold.' 



Page 84. And strews ivith many a leaf the shifting floods, 

I have been told by the captain of a slave ship, that he had 
known instances of negroes who had been brought far down from 
the interior of the African continent, carrying leaves with them 
on board the vessel destined to convey them from the coast, for 
the purposes of strewing them on the wave, vainly supposing, 
that by these they should be enabled to trace their way back on 
the ocean, in the manner they had been accustomed to mark their 
wanderings through their pathless forests. Such simplicity, it 
must be owned, seems scarcely conceivable, but as it is a cir= 
cumstance fitted to impress the imaginations' it has been introduc- 
ed into the poem. 



134 



NOTES* 



Page 97. And feel that to be men is to be free, &C. &C. 

Nothing so powerfully operated in dispelling that darkness in 
wnich, for so many ages, Europe was involved, than the ever me- 
morable discovery of the art of printing, in the 15th century. 
To this, more than to any other cause, are we to ascribe the 
downfal of superstition; the introduction of just and classical taste, 
by the multiplication of the invaluable works of the ancients ; 
and, in one word, that fervour of mind, that ardour of specula- 
tion, that improvement in science and the arts, which have so 
eminently characterized the times subsequent to this discovery. 

To this, likewise, we are chiefly indebted for that political 
and religious liberty with which our island is so peculiarly blest. 
Spiritual despotism, and all the absurd jargon of divine right and 
passive obedience, vanished before the illumination of a free press, 
and were succeeded by that religious toleration and rational liber- 
ty which form the grand features of the British constitution. 
To this we have chiefly alluded in the stanza to which we have 
referred : for it is the unfettered liberty of the press that in- 
fluences that public opinion, which forms the most powerful and 
salutary check upon every department of the state. It lodges in 
the people a true censorial power, more formidable, more exten- 
sively operative, and more favourable to liberty, than any such 
tribunal ever constituted by any government. It makes a whole 
nation immediately acquainted with the political abuses of its 
rulers; and, by rendering them, and the instruments of them, 
universally odious, blasts corruption in the bud. c Thus,' to use the 
expression of a judicious foreigner, ' there is no man in office but 
% -finds himself compelled, in almost every instance, to choose 



NOTES. 135 

c between his duty and the surrender of all his former reputa- 

* tion.' * Should a corrupted minister obtain the sanction even 
of the most sweeping majority of a corrupted senate to measures 
big with mischief to his country, yet the awful tribunal of public 
opinion awaits him, to which he must submit, and from the sen* 
tence of which there lies no appeal. Of his own influence, and 
that of his measures, this will prove ultimately decisive ; and 
should they be found pernicious, they will both perish together. 
This is that vis medicatrix nature, by which the British constitu- 
tion recovers itself from all its temporary derangements. ' Let it be 

* impressed upon your minds, let it be instilled into your children/ 
says the immortal Junius, * that the liberty of the press is the pal- 
1 ladium of all the civil, political, and religious rights, of an Eng- 
€ li-hman.' 

* M. De JLolme. 



STANZAS 

ADDRESSED TO A. DON, ESQUIRI. 



[This accomplished young gentleman, son of Sir Alexander Don 3 
Baronet, of Newton- Don, whose beautiful seat is situated on 
the banks of the Eden in Berwick-shire, is now a prisoner at 
Verdun sur Meuse, ia Lorraine, having been one of those de- 
tained in France at the commencement of the present war. 
It will explain the allusion in the last verse of the following 
little poem to state, that the Author had actually fet out to 
accompany the subject of these stanzas in making the tour of 
Europe, when the mandate of the First Consul was published 
for detaining all the English gentlemen at that time in France.] 



Say, could' st thou leave sweet Eden's side^ 
Thy native stream, o'erhung with willow, 
And cross the ocean spreading wide, 
And fearless brave its stormy billow, 



138 STANZAS TO A. DON. 



And leave the primros'd margin green, 
Where Tweed his classic floods diffuses, 
Forgetful of each smiling scene, 
So dear to Fancy and the Muses ? 

Yes ! could'st thou leave those vales behind, 
Where Newton all its sweets discloses, 
Where panting Summer sleeps reclin'd, 
On shadowy banks of clust'ring roses ? 
Where first sweet Nature's poet* blew 
His Doric reed to rural measure, 
And gave to flow 'rs of mortal hue 
To bloom and breathe immortal pleasure 9 

* Thomson. 



STANZAS TO A. DON. TS9 



O ! thou, whose presence Mirth compels 
Wit's ever varying tints to borrow, 
Still in whose face good humour dwells, 
To soften care, and banish sorrow. 
Say, could'st thou leave the social train, 
Nor feel thy firmest purpose waver, 
Leave each fond nymph, nor thus complain, 
Ah ! woes my heart that w€ must sever ? 

Or on the Loire, or murm'ring Seine, 
Where Spring is fann'd by milder breezes, 
Oft hast thou mark'd the circling vine, 
Where smiling Nature Fancy pleases ? 
But vain is Nature's softest smile, 
For ne'er to joy shall she incline thee; 



140 STANZAS TO A.DON. 



While captive on a hostile soil 

Thy too malignant stars confine thee. 

Now on the Meuse, in Memory's dream. 
Oft shalt thou view, with sad emotion, 
Like Judah's race by Babel's stream, 
Thy native seenes of young devotion, 
Where, as thou turn'st thy lonely feet, 
Disclosing Spring shall oft remind thee 
Of scenes by distance made more sweet. 
Thy native vales left far behind thee. 

Too blest ! if ne'er from thee to wend, 
Some kindred fate had plac'd me near thee, 
To prove in Sorrow's hour thy friend, 
In care to sooth, in grief to cheer thee ; 



STANZAS TO A. DON. 141 



Yet still my thoughts with thee shall roam, 
* While each dull year rolls ling ring o'er thee, 

Till dove-ey'd Peace shall waft thee home^ 
-And to thy weeping friends restore thee. 



SOLITUDE, 



AN ODE. 



X 1 riend of Science and the Muse ! 
Solitude ! thou sweet recluse, 
Tir'd of life's busy bustling scene, 
I seek thy shades and alleys green j 
Whether on the mountain head 
Thou tread' st the heath with blossoms red^ 
Or on some upland's breezy steep 
Lay'st thee down, and fall'st asleep j 
Luil'd by the wild bee's pensive horn, 
Circling o'er the moorlands lorn, 



SOLITUDE. 143 



Or listening hear'st, in dreaming mood, 
The torrent thund'rin'g thro' the wood, 
Or view'st the mazy gliding stream, 
Glittering in the wan moon beam 5 
On hill, or dale, or stream, or wood, 
Still I woo thee Solitude I' 

I hate the noise of busy life, 
Its cares, and toils, and vexing strife, 
Giddy mirth and joys unholy,.. 
And the revel- rout of folly,. 
And all the pantomime of state,. 
Balls, and shows, and feasts, I hate, 
And compliment bestow'd on all, 
And tears that ne'er from sorrow fall*. 



144 SOLITUDE. 



And sighs, unfeeling as the wind, 
And wit, from Fashion's mint purloin'd, 
And fawning nods, and simpering smiles 5 
And all of Flattery's artful wiles. 

Indignant bear me to thy shade, 
Solitude ! sweet musing maid, 
From scenes which I cannot improve, 
Me to loneliest haunts remove, 
Where squint-ey'd Envy comes not near, 
Nor Malice, with sarcastic sneer, 
Nor Fashion, with camel eon hue, 
Treads the flower-cups swell'd with dew. 
Bear me to each haunt remote, 
Woody dell, and spangling grot, 



SOLITUDE. 145 



Kills, mid clustering sedges, flowing, 
"Where the daffodils are blowing, 
Streams unsung, and woods untrode, 
Far from life's noisy beaten road, 
Where, Solitude ! I'll dwell with thee, 
And thy sweet friend Simplicity,— 
Simplicity! whom Truth of yore, 
In ruder days to Nature bore, 
Lov'd by the sons of ' elder time,' 
When Innocence was in her prime } 
When throbb'd the heart to feeling true, 
Its pleasures pure, its wishes few 5 
When in her robes of country brown,. 
Contentment trode the level down. 
Simplicity now forc'd to dwell, 
Far in the wood, or shadowy dell, 

K 



146 SOLITUDE. 



Where freshness sleeps in robes of green, 
Gem'd with the vernal dew-drops sheen, 
And human foot dares scarce intrude 
To vex thy haunts, sweet Solitude ! 

Let me seek thy hallow'd fane, 
Where trees o'er-canopy the plain, 
Whose spacious roof of clustering leaves, 
Not the glary light receives, 
But where Silence reigns in shade, 
In the halls by Nature made 3 
Where Fancy marks the opening May, 
And hermit Wisdom loves to stray; 
Where comes thro' twilight's thickest shade, 
Devotion ! sweet enthusiast maid, 



SOLITUDE. I4/ 7 



And, with uplifted hands, and eyes 
Still gazing on the starry skies, 
Thro' the incense breathing air, 
Pours to Heaven her evening pray'r. 

Musing innocent, and free, 
Solitude ! I'll roam with thee, 
When Morn, with cheeks of blushing roses, 
The sapphire gates of Heaven uncloses, 
And wakes the song from sylvan bowers, 
And incense from ambrosial flowers, 
When in the dew-star twinkles gay 
The ruby flame of infant day, 
Then, sweet coy nymph ! to mark with thee, 
The grey mist swimming o'er the lee, 

k2 



148 SOLITUDE* 



% Or the distant crowing cock, 

Or the hamlet's towering smoke, 

Or carol of the early swain, 

As he drives his fleecy train, 

Or pause the spider's web to view, 

Sprent with beads of lucid dew, 

Whose circles round one centre twin'd, 

Lightly tremble in the wind -, 

Let me steal life's sweetest joys, 

When half the world in slumber lies. 

But chief with thee, in pensive fit, 
Let me on yon upland sit, 
And to the village murmur list, 
Breathing thro' the Evening mist, 



solitude. i4g 



Or hear the milk-maid chaunting home, 
Thro' the twilight's bashful gloom, 
Or the fisher's nimble oar, 
When he seeks the welcome shore, 
Or the sheep-bell's drowsy sound, 
Or the cattle lowing round, 
As the reaper's horn the while 
Calls the weary from their toil, 
Sounds that charm while they intrude,; 
On thy musings, Solitude ! 

Solitude ! be ever mine, 
When life's better days decline, 
Down the vale of age descending, 
On my staff incumbent bending, 



150 SOLITUDE. 



When my time-enfeebled form,, 
Like the oak bent with the storm, 
Seems to view that parent dust, 
Where stretch itself, ah! soon it must, 
Stretch itself in peaceful rest, 
'Neath the sod it oft had prest. — 
And when Heaven claims the life it gave. 
Thou alone shalt tread my grave, 
Tread that grave, which soon shall be 
Quite forgot by all but thee. 



ODE TO FROST. 



Hail Frost ! that in the northern storm, 
Or lov'st to shield thy giant form, 
Or 'neath the starry arch serene, 
Hang'st in the atmosphere unseen ; 
Or in thy chrystal chariot driv'n, 

Sparkling in the moon -beams pale, 
Ridest on the cloud-pav'd way of Heaven, 

And round thee shower'st the polish'd hail 5 
And, on the green-revolving world below, 
Bid'st the dark vapors fall, in flakes of lucid snow, 



152 ODE TO FROST. 



Or say ! chief doest thou love to tread, 

Where Fairies trip the level mead, 

Whose long grass, tip'd with dew drops bright, 

Glitters in the wan moon-light ? 

Where, to thy chemic influence true, 

The liquid drops are turn'd to gems, 
Or bright in slender chrystal's glue, 

Around the green herbs spiky stems y 
But when the loose winds shake the rust'ling green* 
Lost in one dazzling shower, dissolves the magic scene. 

Tell, in what cavern of the north, 

The storm-girt winter brought thee forth ? 

Of yore within the polar zone, 

Thou framedst on seas thy radiant throne £ 



ODE TO FROST. 153 



And, as their tides with hollow moan, 

High o'er thy icy ramparts break, 
Turn'd, at thy touch, to lucid stone, 

They guard the walls they strove to shake $ 
While scaly monsters, hungry as the grave, 
Roar in the vast abyss, and spout the briny wave- 
Beyond where life's slow taper burns, 
Where Ruin smiles, and Nature mourns,. 
Or on cold Zembla's ice-rib'd coast, 
Uncheck'd thou reign' st, terrific Frost ! 
And oft on Lapland lov'st to stray, 

'Neath starry skies, where streamers wave : 
Where not the native dreads thy sway, 

Warm shelter'd in his earth dug cave, 



154 ODE TO FROST. 



And frequent, to the shivering Esquimaux, 
Thou shew' st the rein-deer's track o'er wastes of crisped 
snow* 

Say, Frost ! within what icy field 
Was Willouby's proud ship congeal'd ? 
Firm in the chrystal azisre driv'n, 
He fire in vain besought from Heaven - 7 
And sighing, while he breath' d his woes, 

Those sighs to snowy fleakes were turn'd > 
And, as he wept, the salt drops froze, 

And mock'd the ills they idly mourn'd, 
While Enterprize now stop'd her fearless flight, 
And Courage droop'd at last, and own'd thy matchless 
might. 



ODE TO FROST. 155 



As the fam'd prince, who turn'd of old 

All by his magic touch to gold, 

So, touch' d by thee, the foam-tip' d wave, 

Turn'd to a gem, forgets to lave, 

For when struck by thy wizard wand, 

While thundering down their steeps amain, 
' In noiseless heaps the torrents stand, 
Like columns of some Gothic fane, 

While forms grotesque cling round their massy base^ 
In purest chrystal cut, and flash amid the blaze. 

Quick in his sledge, along the snow, 
Thou bid'st the fur clad Russian go 5 
And on their smooth canals no more, 
Batavia's sons impel the oar, 



^6 ODE TO FROST. 



For no w the icy pavement rings, - 

Beneath the waggon's ponderous load. 

While,, pois'd on skates, the miik-maid sings, 
As swift she skims the chrystal road, 

Where all the city pours its blooming pride, 
And sport and noisy mirth dwell on the frozen tide 

And round the smooth lake's osier shore, 
The swan majestic moves no more, 
Nor can the duck her plumage lave, 
Or widgeon flutter on the wave : 
Sublime they wing their eager way, 

To greener fields, and milder streams, 
Where the effulgent king of day 

Pours on the earth his warmer beams, 



©HE TO FROST. 157 



Rous' d at whose touch, in tears the ice drops flow, 
JVnd, in brown torrents, melts the mountains treasur'd 
snow* 

Fair ruddy Health, with eye serene^ 
Attends, O Frost ! thy gelid reign, 
And Freedom, crown'd with purple heath. 
And Courage, who but yields to death 5 
Oft seated in her sparry cave, 

She listens to the Runic rhyme, 
While hoary Scalds exalt the brave, 

That shone the lights of c elder time 5' 
That freed the world from Rome's despotic thrall, 
Now quaff th' inspiring mead in Odin's lofty halL 

Oft, in thy still nocturnal reign, 
Lone have I trode the crisped plain, 



158 ODE TO FROST. 



And, from the thatch'd roof, spangling seen, 

The pendant icicle serene -> 

Or froze rills, clustering o'er their rocks, 

Far glistening in the starry light, 
Or heard the blacksmith's distant strokes, 

Or house dog, baying to the night, 
Or listen'd to the wildly whistling breeze, 
Or view'd the cottage fire blaze thro* the leafless trees. 

Whether, O Frost ! with gelid wing, 
Thou blast'st the embryo buds of Spring, 
Or secret in the dripping vault, 
Form'st in the moon the pointed salt, 
Or with thy adamantine chain, 

Upbind'st the thundering torrents flow, 
Or turn'st to hail the falling rain, 

Or heap'st the fields with drifted snow, 



ODE TO FROST. 159 



Or lov'st my cottage window's lucid pane, 
With silver mingling flowers, of unknown class, to stain : 

Tis nought to me, while prone T gaze 
On the red faggot's gladdening blaze, 
Tho' clouds on clouds, in darkness furl'd, 
O'er-canopy the trembling world $ 
While at my cheerful hearth is found 
The happy guest, the kinsman true, 
Who as the tragic tale goes round, 

Blush not to shed the generous dew -, 
Whose hearts shall glow with friendship's sacred flame, 
Till thou congeal' st the blood that warms their vital frame. 



SONNET,* 

Written immediately after reading Professor Stewart's account of 
Dr. Robertson's daily visits^ during his last illness at Grange 
house, to the fruit trees then in blossom ; and of his contrasting 
their progress with the event which was to happen to himself 
before their maturity. 



jl e lovely blossoms of the opening Spring ! 

That paint the fruit trees with your blushing hues,, 
■T'ann'd by the genial south wind's humid wing, 

And foster'd by the evening's grateful dews, 
Each morning sun your vernal health renews, 

Each morning sun perceives my health decline ; 
Your's 'tis to bloom, and round you joy diffuse, 

To droop, to wither, and to die, is mine. 

* Published in the Scots Magazine for 1802, 



SONNET. 1^1 



For Spring, nor genial sun, nor freshening gale,, 
With youthful strength can sickly age recruit, 

And death shall o'er this tottering frame prevail, 
Ere Autumn shall mature your embryo fruit : 

And when I us'd to view my orchard's pride, 
Ah ! then its fallen Lord a grassy turf shall hide, 



SONNET, 



JN ow while I muse amid the shadowy night, 
When all the noisy world in sleep are drown'd, 
When Silence reigns, dread, solemn, and profound, 

As when before Creation burst to light : 

From star to star still roves my wond'ring gaze, 

Along the spangling, blue, ethereal road, 

Where countless suns, with inexhausted bla^e, 

To this far distant world proclaim their God. — 



SONNET. 165 



Oh ! am not I, or unperceiv'd, or lost, 

Mid thy great works, thou Universal Soul ! 

Or say, amid thy Heav'n rejoicing host, 
Shall, to thine ear, these feeble accents roll ? 

Yes ! ev'n from this far orb, these musings lone, 
Shall, in memorial sweet, be wafted to thy throne. 



l 2 



SONNET, 



ON CONTEMPLATING THE PICTURE O? A DECEASED LADY, 



JVlosT beauteous offspring of the Painter's art ! 

Image of all that once my soul possess'd, 
That now lives only in my wretched heart, 

Yes ! wretched now,- — but once most truly blest,. 
Oh ! fairest image of that fairest maid, 

"Who., "first to love, awoke my youthful breast, 
What dulcet sounds those rose-bud lips convey'd ? 

What blissful love those mild blue eyes express'd ! 



SONNET. 167 



Sweet lips ! that ne'er by faithless love were kiss'd } 

Sweet eyes ! that ever spoke true to thy soul. 
Now mute that tongue, to which might angels list, 

And clos'd those eyes, whose secret glance I stole, 
And cold that heart, ne'er by a crime imbu'd, 
Where lies the mould'ring turf, — and blows the north 
winds rude. 4 



VERSES TO A TEAR. 



I ellucid drop of sacred dew ! 

In Sorrow's briny fountain bred, 
That from the eye of mildest blue, 

Fall'st on the cheek of softest red. 

Sweet tear ! what orient gem reveals 
A lustre to the sun more bright, 

Than what thy limpid bosom steals 
From the mild eye that swims in light, 



VERSES TO A TEAR, I69 



Offspring of sorrow, and its cure ! 

That thro' the eye reliev'st the heart, 
As the descending rain-drops pure 

Exhaust the clouds from whence they part. 

Yes [ to the heart thou giv'st relief, 
As dews the parching rlowrets chear : 

Sweet is the ecstasy of grief, 
And sweet the rapture of a tear ! 

Hail, little sphere of ray serene ! 

I love thee for my Myra's sake 5 
Thou prov'st her heart to feeling keen, 

And gentlest sympathy awake. 



1?0 VERSES TO A TEAR. 



Pure is her bosom as thine own, 

Now trembling on her cheek so fair, 

That well might tempt an angel down, 
To kiss thee from the roses there. 



ADDRESS 



OF THE MOTHER TO HER CHILD, 



jMy Infant ! canst thou smile so blest, 
While now my tears like rain drops flow, 

And hug with ecstacy that breast 
That only heaves a Mother's woe ? 

Yes ! canst thou hug, my poor, poor child I 
That heart which I have broke for thee, 

While far I roam, in anguish wild, 
From all that once was dear exil'd, 
And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 



1?2 



ADDRESS. 



Bright was the morn that gave thee birth. 

Yet 'twas to me a morn of gloom, 
And thou art come to this sad earth, 

To view, my Child ! thy Mother's tomb : 
Thy natal hour no face of joy, 

No kindly soul e'er blest to thee, 
No holy Priest baptiz'd my Boy, 
But tears shed from a Mother's eye> 

And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 

And must I curse mat beauteous morn, 
That gave to light such winning charms ! 
And wish that thou had'st ne'er been born, 
To clasp me with thy little arms ? 



ADDRESS. 173 



How innocent ! yet cause of shame : 
How gay ! yet nurs'd on Sorrow's knee - 7 

Fair blameless fruit of all my blame, 

I blush to own thy very name, 

And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 

And canst thou, on my tortur'd breast, 

Lay down thy head in soft repose, 
Know'st thou the pillow of thy rest 

Is now the seat of all my woes ? 
Sad o'er this vale of tears forlorn, 

Far from thy perjur'd Sire I flee, 
Yet as the rose twines round the thorn, 
I love him still, — cause of my scorn, 

And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 



174 ADDRESS* 



Once foster'd by a Father's care, 

Beneath his shade 1 beauteous grew, 
Ev'n envy own'd that I was fair, 

And, as the dew drop, spotless too ; 
But innocence was win by lure, 

The heart enslav'd that once was free, 
Why of the falsest youth too sure, 
Was stain' d the bosom once so pure, 

And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 

Yet when to him I blushing told, 

What more than blushes might reveal, 

Oh ! how I bore his looks so cold, 
Know they whose softer hearts can feel. 



ADDRESS. I75 



Oh ! worse than thousand deaths to bear,, 

Oh ! ever lost, where could I flee ? — 
Drunk with the woe of wild despair, 
I screaming fled, yet wist not where, 
And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 

And me those walls received no more, 

Where once paternal fondness smil'd. 
For soon my father, from his door, 

Thurst out to night his frenzied child. 
* There hide/ he cried, e thy blasted charms,, 

' Curs'd of that race, disgrac'd in thee 3 ' 
Then, cruel, spurn'd me from his arms, 
— 'Twas lightening in the blackest storms, — ■ 

And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 



lj@ ADDRESS. 



And now, a wretched out-cast driv'n, 

Condemn' d in solitude to mourn, 
Led by the Moon that gilds the Heaven, 

Led by the Stars that round her burn. 
Along these desert wastes I go, 

Or weep beneath some friendly tree, 
Rock'd on my heart that throbs to woe, 
Poor child ! couldst thou my sorrows know, 

Thou wouldst not smile so sweet on me. 

Yet say, just Heaven ! what have I done, 
Thus doom'd in wretched thrall to pine ? 

His was the guilt my heart that won, 
Credulity alone was mine. 



ADDRESS. 177 



His oaths could I untrue believe, 

Who thought not e'er such crimes could be, 
That innocence, not guilt, I grieve, 
Which never dream'd he could deceive, 

And canst thou smile so sweet on me ? 

Poor Babe ! enjoy the fleeting bliss, 

The sun-shine that precedes the shower, 
For ere thou know'st what sorrow is, 

Far shall I be from sorrow's power 5 
Tho' now thy friend the friendless prove, 

Soon soon that friend must part from thee, 
But, nurs'd by ev'ry Power above, 
Live ! — but oh ! ne'er be false to Love, 

When thou shalt smile no more on me. , 



SONG, 

THE TEARS OF BEAUTY. 

For Beauty s tears are lovelier than her smile. — Camp. 

v 

C^oy Beauty's blush is passing sweet, 
And sweet the bashful smile she wears, 

But love and admiration meet, 

In Beauty glistening thro' her tears. 

Most sweet the cowslip in its dews, 

Most sweet the sun thro' showers appears, 

Most sweet the meads where streamlets ooze, 
And sweetest Beauty in her tears, 



SONG. 1^9 



On earth one object is divine, 

The heart which Sympathy endears, 

'Tis Beauty's self at Pity's shrine, 
With roses glistening thro' her tears. 



ODE TO A FAY. 



.Dwarfish Fay that trip'st unseen i 
On the moon-light's spangling green,, 
While thy feet the daisies braise, 
As they drink their twinkling dews, 
Gay before my fancy rise, 
Cloth' d in all thy liveliest dyes, 
While with pencil bright and warm 
Strong I paint thy airy form, 
Such as thou hast sometimes shone 
To the nightly pilgrim lone. — 



ODE, 1S1 



Lo ! the fox-glove's blossom red 
Towers inverted on thy head, 
And of finest thistle down 
Lightly floats thy sheeny gown ; 
Lucid silk, whose soft film grows 
On the petals of the rose, 
Round about thee graceful thrown, 
Is thy wavy streaming zone, 
While the silvery gossamer 
Veils thy bosom soft and fair; 
Wings that on thy shoulders lie 
Once adorn' d a dragon-fly, 
And aloft thee quickly bear 
Thro' the incense-breathing air, 

M 2 



182 or>E, 



When ambrosial Summer pours 
All her sweets from all her flowers*. 

Thee behind a spear is hung ? 
Tis the barbed adder's tongue y 
Elest they are who never found 
Of that elfin spear the wound. 
For no leech with chemic art 
E'er could heal its bitter smart 

Sportive Maid ! from vallies damp, 
Oft thou steal'st the glow-worm's lamp; 
Tiny lamp of em'rald light 
To conduct thee thro' the night> 



ODE. J 83 



Thro' the night on airy wing, 
Or to trace the mystic ring, 
When thy sister elves with thee 
Foot it briskly on the lee, 
Hand in hand, and round and rounds 
To the beetle's drowsy sound, 
Where their circles long are seen 
Dark upon the fainter green* 

From the cockle's spiral cup. 
Thou the May-dew lov'st to sup, 
Or sleep'st in a scollop-shell, 
Lull'd by Ocean's plaintive swell, 
Or sail'st o'er the night stream lone 
In an acorn's hollow cone- 



184 



Or fall's! down the current bright, 
Leaning on the froth so white, 
On the froth, or lov'st to veer 
Round the eddy's whirling sphere. 

Little fairy elf ! are thine, 
Sportive tricks, and deeds benign, 
Thine the assassin to affright 
From the murderous deed of night, 
Thine to make the miser's ear 
Fancied sounds and terrors hear, 
Thine to charm with balmy sleep 
Hearts that throb, and eyes that weep, 
Thine to bless the lover's dreams, 
And to guide him thro' the streams. 



ODE. 185 



When he wanders lone and late 

To his sweet-heart's cottage gate, 

And when he, to wake the maid, 

Taps her window, half afraid, 

Lest he rouse some jealous sire, 

Or some wrathful brother's ire, 

Then thou giv'st oblivion deep 

To the weary sons of sleep, 

Then thou bid'st the house-dog snore >, 

As she slily opes tne door, 

Stealing out to meet the youth, 

Doubtless of a lover's truth, 

Or swift from her window's base* 

Leaps into his fond embrace. 



186 oi>e. 

Little elf ! when rosy Morn 
Wakes the barn-cock's screaming horn, 
When each wandering ghost of night, 
Flits before the dawning light, 
Thou, beneath the clustering flowers, 
Hid'st thyself till evening lowers, 



THE FERRYMAN. 



In yon roofless cot that is lav'd by the tide, 

Of the broad stream that rolls by its door, 
An honest old ferryman us'd to abide, 

And he liv'd by the gains of his oar. 
To the voice of the stranger that calPd o'er the deep. 

Ne'er deaf was his ear, tho' the tempest should roar. 
And tho' weary and faint he were rous'dfrom his sleep. 
Yet rubbing his eyes, from his bed he would creep, 
And aboard the strong chain that his boat us'd to keep 

Soon he threw, and impell'd her from shore, 



188 THE FERRYMAN. 



Tho' twinkl'd no star thro' the gloom of the night* 

And the spirits shrieked wild on the blast, 
Yet, led by the gleam of the lantern's pale light, 

O'er the dark flowing current he pass'd. 
Four times o'er his head twenty winters had roll'd, 

And thin o'er his cheeks hung his ringlets of snow, 
Till at length, spent with toils, he scarcely could hold. 
The oars of that boat with its master grown old; 
But tho' feeble his arm, his heart still was bold, 

And across still he ventur'd to row. 

Ah ! dread was the hour when, thro' midnight so dark, 
1 The boat' — ' the boat,' a voice loudly rung, 

Then woke the old man, and quick hied to his bark, 
And over his arm his lantern slung. 



THE FERRYMAN. 189 



And he cast in his boat its massy iron chain ^ 

And he totter' d on board, and grasp'd at the oar, 
But the wide roaring stream, high swell'd with the rain, 
Quick drove his frail bark down the current amain ^ 
To yield it was death, yet to strive it was vain, 
While his fate sigh/d the winds to deplore. 

The lantern afar down the waters to float, 

Was beheld by the stranger on shore, 
But the feeble old man, and his crazy old boat, 

Or was seen, or was heard of no more. 
And still, it is said, that the lantern's pale beam, 

Oft glimmers at night o'er his watery grave, 
And thence 'tis imagin'd that blue on the stream, 
Thatmourns o'er the pale corse, oft lambent fire's gleam, 
Where a sprite keeping watch is heard oft to scream, 

As it burns its lone torch on the wave. 



WAR SONG. * 



Sons of the mighty fearless band! 

Resolv'd to conquer or to die, 
Around your rock embattl'd strand, 
Than rocks more firm, embattl'd stand, 

And proud invasion's boasts defy : — 
Unconquer'd offspring of the brave ! 
Whom Roman power could ne'er enslave, 

* This Ode was published in a provincial newspaper about the 
commencement of the present war. 



WAR SONG. 101 



Your freedom who for ever seal'd, 
On Bannockburn's victorious field, 
Rush from your hills, ye heroes on the foe, 
Tread on Oppression's neck, and deal the avenging blow. 

On sons of Morven ! to the fight, 

The invaders drive back in their waves, 

Lift high the dreadless arm of might ; 

Say, shall Oppression rule o'er right, 
And patriots yield to slaves. 

No, — whilst their shores repel the main, 

Shall Britons spurn a tyrant's chain, 

While winds and tempests, loud and dread, 

Roar round their mountains cloud-top'd head. 



1Q2 WAR SONG. 



Free as their winds, and as their tempests dire, 
For Liberty they'll strive, and conquer, or expire. 

Rise, freemen ! to your country's aid, 
Your fathers' ghosts on vengeance call, 

Draw from its sheath the battle blade, 

Nor let the avenging sword be staid, 
Till you have seen the tyrant fall. 

Say, shall we view, dear native soil ! 

Thy smiling fields a despot spoil ? 

And Christians at their altars slain, 

And children's blood their mothers stain., 
And trembling beauty's virgin charms, 
Clasp'd in a ruffian murderer's arms ? 



WAR SONC 



193 



O righteous Heav'm forbid the foul disgrace,, 
At which the sun asham'd would hide his cloudless 
face ! 

Hail native isle ! pride of the west, 

Seat of the brave, the fair, the free, 
By Truth, by Love, by Science, blest,. 
While Memory fondly cheers my breast^ 

I shall, dear land ! remember thee. 
Tho' be thy hills, my country ! rude, 
Yet there is courage unsubdu'd, 
A Patriot king— a Christian creed, 
And laws from wild disorder freed. 



194 WAR SONG* * 



And heroes that disdain a tyrant's rule, 
Nurs'd on proud Honour's lap, and taught at Freedom's 
school. 

Yes ! dear rny country still thou art, 

Tho' be thy mountains rude and wild, 
Dear as the life-drops to the heart, 
Dear as the hour when lovers part, 

Dear as the mother to her child. 
Thine native land our latest sigh — 
Who would not for his country die ? — 
This day thy freedom shall be seal'd, 
Then rush we to the battle field, 
Breathe riot a wish our bosoms but thy good, 
For this we hold our lives — for this we shed our blood. 



WAR SONG. I9 5 



Then to your shores, ye patriot band ! 

Invasion's sails are now unfurl' d, 
Fight for your dear sweet native land. 
For Freedom, — for Religion, stand 9 

And prove the saviours of the world* 
High pants the steed with foamy breath. 
The horseman draws the sword of death,. 
Thick rows of arms flash in the light, 
The weak shall fall beneath your might 5 
Then on ye brave — perdition waits the slaves, 
They come to forge our chains, we go to dig their graves. 



t? 



VERSES TO THE KEN 



On thy green sedgy banks, my sweet native stream f 
Life's morn flew away, ah ! too blissful to last, 

And tho' present no more, still present they seem, 
The scenes of my youth, and the years of the past. 

How sweet are the dreams of the days that are flown ! 

More gay than the spring flowers that laugh'donthyside. 
When my bosom, sweet stream ! was pure as thine own, 

And free as the zephyr that wing'd o'er thy tide. 



VERSES TO THE KEN. IQj 



A child oft the brisk water-spiders I spied, 

As circling they skim'd o'er thy current so blue, 

Or raus'd on the bubbles that danc'd as they died, 
E'er the bubbles of life had dazzled my view. 

And oft, when a school-boy, all careless I stray 'd, 
A stranger to love, mid thy ash-woven bowers, 

And sweet nosegays cull'd to my favourite maid, 

'Mongst the school nymphs that play'd on thy margin 
of flowers. 

And oft 'neath thy willows I laid me to sleep, 

Lull'd by the soft winds thro' thy tall reeds that sung, 

Or lav'd my young limbs in thy soft falling deep, 
Or angl'd the trout from thy eddies that sprung. 



IQS VERSES TO THE KEN. 



And there too I lov d,— 'twas the flower of thy pride, 
But adieu ye fond dreams .! too tender to bear, 

Farewel lovely Ken ! ever full be thy tide, 

Thy banks ever green, and thy nymphs ever fair. 

Farewel native stream ! not thy absence I mourn, 
For yet may I muse o'er thy landscape so wild, 

But the sweet joys of youth when shall they return, 
The sports of the boy, and the dreams of the chikH 

Farewel native stream ! oft in fancy I tread 

The flower be]ls that bloom on thy margin so dear, 

Still in fancy those flowers all their fragrance shall shed, 
And thy waves with soft cadence still flow in mine ear 



SONNET, 

THE SWISS PEASANT, 



Acfcoss his mule, high o'er yon Alpine steep 
Trudges the hardy peasant Swiss along, 
Hums the gay tune, or chaunts the drowsy song, 

Or dares even on destruction's brink to sleep. 

If chance some chamois-goat with sudden leap, 
Move but one step his wary beast aside, 

Then down the yawning cavern, dark and deep, 
The swain must fall, where death and ruin bide, 



200 THE SWISS PEASANT. 



Yet heedless still of danger does he ride \ 
So of the many ills that round us wait, 
Down life's deceitful stream we heedless glide, 
And snatch a bliss even on the brink of fate 3 
Enjoy our transient day even to the last, 
The future still unknown, and still forgot the past. 



ODE TO BENIGLOW, 

One of the highest mountains in the Western Highlands, written 
on its summit in the month of August 1797, while on a tour 
through the Highlands of Scotland. 



Dark o'er the heath the tempest sweeps, 
The dizzy cliff-rocks to th^ gale, 
White roar the torrents down their steeps. 
And pour destruction on the dale. 

Now drifting clouds obscure the Sun, 
Now shew his blazing face more bright. 
Swift o'er the fields their shadows run, 
And rain-drops glisten in the light. 



202 ODE TO BENIGLOW, 



On thy dread summit, Beniglow ! 
That long has felt the wintry ire, 
When wrapt in storms thy rugged brow,. 
Has brav'd the bolts of liquid fire ; 

Sublime I stand, and wondering gaze 
On the vast scene that round me lies* 
And trace the river's wimpling maze? 
And marks the landscape's varying dyes. 

And muse on earfh's stupendous plan. 
Its beauty, majesty, and grace, - 

Muse on the littleness of man, 
Lost in the immensity of space ; 



ODE TO BENIGLOW. 203 



And rise to Him whose essence nils 
That space, and bade these fields expand> 
Who weighs in scales- the ponderous hills? 
And metes the water in his hand. 

Now seem the mountains round me thrown, 
Like waves on the tempestuous main, 
And o'er green Nature's bosom prone- 
The river rolls its pearly vein, 

From regions of eternal frost, 
The rapid B*uer pours his stream, 
Now deep in shelvy caverns lost, 
Now sparkling in the playful beanr> 



204 -ODE TO BENIGLOW. 



And sedge-crown'd Tilt* o'er the dark heath 5 
From sparry grottoes spouts his tide, 
And Tummel twists his silvery wreath 
'Mongst flow 'rs that paint his cultur'd side. 

But mid yon hills of faintest blue, 
Fond fancy wings her airy road, 
To heights where ne'er but fancy flew, 
To wilds where ne'er but fancy trode. 

Or in the azure mists afar, 

She courts the streams of classic Tay, I 

Where happy swains, unus'd to war, 

Cbaunt to the pipe the rural lay. 

* The Bruer and Tilt are two rivers that run into the Tummel, 
near Blair in Athole. 



ODE TO BENIGfcOW. 205 



But still to Blair I turn my eyes, 
Where Friendship spreads the social board; 
Where Athole's hardy clans rejoice, 
And grateful bliss their generous lord. 

There clustering roses learn to smile, 
On heaths that wav'd their blossoms red. 
And woods to veil the niggard soil, 
And spring to sit beneath their shade. 

But lo ! mute on the rugged heights 
I see the hart his antlers rear. 
Or down the steep hill bend his flight 
The coward slave of every fear. 



-06 ODE TO EENIGXOW; 



While far down on the russet heath, 
The blue smoke marks the fatal spot, 
Where whirring moor-fowls meet the death' 
Sent from the sportsman's murderous shot., 

But now in turbid volumes roll'd, 
Descending mists the landscape veil. 
While wrapt within their vapoury fold; 
Aerial forms are seen to sail. , 

Where sleep's! thou Morven's sacred Bard ! 
That charm'dst of yore the warrior's ear ? 
Where is that harp these hills have heard, 
And ghosts bent from their clouds to hear? 



ODE TO -BENIGLOW. 20/ 



Mute is thy voice thou king of song"! 
In airy halls thy harp is hung ; 
JNTow small the great, and weak the strong, 
That on these fields their bows have strung. 

Beneath the moss-encrusted cairn, 
They sleep unmindful of the fight, 
There shakes the wind the wither'd fern,. 
There shriek the spirits of the night. 

And mid these peaceful fields no more 
Jn deadly feuds the swains engage \ 
They wear the garb their father's wore, 
But feel no more their father's rage. 



208 ODE TO BENIG1-OW. 



Long have the Druids slept in dust, 
Long have the Bards forgot their art ; 
The sworcPis cover' d o'er with rust, 
That oft has pierc'd the warrior's heart. 



{ 



FINIS. 



Edinburgh^ printed by Alundell and Son, 



• BOOKS 

PRINTED FOR AND SOLD EY 

MUNDELL & SON, EDINBURGH, 

AND 

LONGMAN b 3 REES y LONDON. 



i. THE WORKS OF THE BRITISH POETS, 
with Prefaces Biographical and Critical, by Robert 
Anderfbn, M. D. 13 vols, royal 8vo. — Price 9I. 15s. 
fewed. 

" From what we have already faid on the fubjecT: of this Work 
its general character may eafily be inferred. It appears to us an 
lifeful and comprehenfive collection of Englifh poetry, and the 
Kditor has uniformly evinced diligence and judgment in collecting 
and arranging his materials.* ^-^-Mmthly Review, Sept. 179S. 

" The Biographical and Critical Prefaces, as they are an origi- 
nal work, require a more diitincl: and particular examination. To 
the execution of this plan, Dr. Anderfon feems to have brought 
powers well adapted to its completion. He appears to poffefs an 
accurate acquaintance with our poetry. Kis criticifms evince a 
mind capable of eitimating the genuine beauties of the Mufe, and 
candour willing to give praife in return for the pleafure he has re- 
ceived. 

" We confider the prefent work as a valuable acquifition to 
Englifn literature. As a collection of Britifh Poetry and Biogra- 
phy, it confers honour upon the Editor for genius, tafte, and in- 
formation, tending to promote and perpetuate the moil imperifh- 
able moBument of Britain's glory"— ~JBritj/b CWfrV, Feb. 1796. 





210 

" To edit a complete collection cf the Poets of Great Britain, 
was an important and ufeful undertaking ; and it is from com- 
prifing the early writers that the prefent collection derives its 
great and diftinguifhed value. The admirers of Englifh literature 
are highly indebted to the publifhers and the editor of thefe vo- 
lumes."-— Critical Review, Jan. 1 799. 

2. THE LIFE OF SAM. JOHNSON, L.L.D, 

with Critical Obfervations on his Works, by Robert 
Anderfon, M. D. one volume 8vo. — Price 6s. boards. 

" Thefe facts and particulars are well fele&ed and arranged; 
connected, alfo, and illuftrated by reflections flowing from a mind 
and a pen which are congenial with thofe of the hero of the nar- 
rative. He has admirably emblazoned Jchnfon's excellencies, with- 
out concealing his defects : And we may venture to fay, that this 
work, which we have examined with much pleafure, is written 
with itrength, elegance, good tafle, and found judgment." — Month- 
ly Review , May I 79 6. 

" The narrative part is well digefled and neatly written, and 
may be pronounced a very fair and accurate memoir. It perhaps 
contains a more complete chronological enumeration of the Doc- 
tor's writings than is to be met with eLtv. here. To the narrative 
Dr. Anderfon has added a general critique on the character of ths 
man and the merit of the author ; and this part of the work has 
fufficient originality to claim the attention of the Public. We 
think ourfelves juftified in adding, as further commendation of 
the prefent publication, that Dr. Andeifon appreciates the n.bjcci 
of this memoir with great impartiality; and that his ftyle poftefTes 
a degree of accuracy, clofenefs, and itrength, not unworthy the 
Johnlonian fchool."— J&ialyiUal Review for January IJ96. 

" Dr. Anderfon, in elegance of language, and acutenefs of cri- 
tical and philofophicaf judgment, has perhaps furpafled his prede- 
cefTors ; his narrative is clear and regular, his ftyle manly, and 
his decifions ufualiy judicious : It abounds with proofs of accurate 
perception, and jufl difcrimination, 

" Dr. Anderfon concludes the Life of Johnfon with characters 
of him taken from other authors, but none of them in accuracy 
and merit furpaiTTng his own. ,? — Britijh Critic, January 6, 1706. 

3. THE LIFE OF TOBIAS SMOLLETT, M. D, 
with Critical Obfervations on his Works, by Robert 



21 I 

Anderfon, M. D. The fourth edition, corrected and 
enlarged, one Vol. 8vo. Price *js. boards. 

" This is a very juft and accurate account of one who-, as an 
author, has fupplied the public with a fund of amufement, and 
who, as a man, was entitled to the refpecf. of the world at large 
for many eftimable qualities. It is drawn up with attention, and 
penned with impartiality, and does jultice to the memory of Dr. 
Smollett, without fuppreffing the foibles attached to his charac- 
ter." — European Magazine ■> April 1804. 

4. POETICAL TRANSLATIONS, containing 
Pope's Homer's Iliad, Pope's Homer's Odyfley, 
Weft's Pindar, Dryden's Virgil, Dryden's Juvenal, 
Dryden's Perfius, Pitt's Virgil's iEneid, Rowe's Lu- 
can, Cooke's Hefiod, Fawkes's Theocritus, Anacreon, 
Sappho, Bion, Moichus, and Mufaeus, Fawkes's A- 
pollonius Rhodius, Creech's Lucretius, and Grain- 
ger's Tibullus, 2 vols, royal 8vo. Price il. ios. fewed. 

In offering the prefent Collection to the Public, the Proprietors 
hope they perform an acceptable fervice to the Friends of Litera- 
ture. To the Englifh Reader who defires to be acquainted with 
the writings of the Greek and Roman Poets, its utility is obvious ; 
and to Gentlemen whofe purfuits are not altogether of a literary 
nature, and who may therefore not have fufiicient leifure to per- 
ufe thefe authors in the language in which they wrote, the prefent 
publication, it is hoped, will be found an ufeful auxiliary ; while to 
the Scholar, it is prcfumed, it will be no iefs pleafing to meet hich 
an affemblage of his old friends, drefTed in the attire of the Britiih. 
Mufe. 

The plan of the publication is to embrace much within fmall li- 
mits, and at a reafonable price, without however being inattentive 
to elegance in the execution. How far the proprietors have fuc- 
ceeded in the one, the public will judge; and for the other, they 
have no doubt they will obtain full credit when they flate, that 
ihe works of the fame authors, as originally publifhcd, when pa- 
per was not half its prefent price, fold for nearly three times the 
price of the prefent publication. 

5. The PLEASURES of HOPE, with otherPoem?, 
by ThomasCampbdt, fmall 8vo. — Price 6s. boards. 



21 2 

So uncommon a degree of merit appears in the nril and prin- 
cipal of thefe poems, that we cannot let it pafs without particular 
notice. The Pieafures of Hope are furely as good a fubjed; for a 
lifing- poet as can well be choi'em It is the very efTence of genius 
to form ideal fcenes of future gratification. This fubjeci is treated 
by Mr. Campbell with much genius, and in general with good 
judgment; certainly with a very lingular fplendoui and felicity of 
verification." — Briti/h Critic, July 1 799. 

" The general infpiration of good fenfe and generous virtue, 
the correct chailening of true tafte and found difcretion, are the 
raoft remarkable excellencies which diftinguifh the contents of this 
elegant volume. It has in ail its parts a fumcient proportion of 
particular fentiments, and particular images, to deferve the cha- 
acter of true poetry."— New London Review, Sett* 1799. 

6. PICTURES of POETRY, Hiftorical, Biogra- 
phical, and Critical, by Alexander Thomfon, Efq. 
Author of Whift, and the Paradife of Tafte, fmall 
8vo. — Price 5?. boards. 

<k Mr. Thomfcn acquired confiderable fame by the publication 
cf his Paradife of Tafte, which forms the introduction to a poe- 
tical plan cf confiderable extent, intending chiefly to comprehend 
" a view cf the progrefs of polite literature, from the earlien pe- 
" riod to the prefent time ;" and of which this work forms about 
one fourth part. The ingenious author, from this fpecimen, ap- 
pears to pofTefs refources adequate to the extent and importance of 
hh f ubjeCt.'' — -Monthly Mirror for Auguji 1 799. 

" To accomplifh with fuccefs a defign fuch as that which Mr. 
Thomfon has conceived, not only confiderable poetic talents are 
requifite, but a fund of clailical learning, nice tafte, and a discri- 
minating judgment. We think that, with feme limitations, Mr. 
Thomfon has manifested valid claims to thefe qualities ; and that, 
on the whole, this portion of his v. ork is executed with a degree 
of ability which e niides it to public patronage." — Monthly "Review 
Qftober igco. 

7. POEMS, by Ann Eanncrman, fmall 8vo. — 
Price 5s. boards. 

" We are always pleafed when we have an opportunity of plac- 
• )vc our readers fpecimens of poetical performances oi me- 
■ t. The prefent publication v. ill be found entitled to the high- 
eft comrr. en elation, for vigour, elegance, ur.d harmony."—. 
fi8oo. 



213 

" When the ear of a Reviewer is palled, and his attention is 
nearly exhaufted, by liftening to the monotones of mediocrity 
which found from modern lyres, it is a rich reward for his labour, 
it is a cordial for his wearied fpirits, to hear the breathings of ar- 
dent Genius, and to hail the approaches of the real mule. Such 
recompence have we experienced from the energetic numbers cf 
Mifs Bannerman, and fuch relief has been imparted by the footh- 
ing influence of her charmed fong. 

" Mifs Bannerman delights to foar in the loftieft regions of ima- 
gination, and gaze with undaunted ken upon " proilrate worlds" 
below; nor does Hie fail in her airy flight to ftrike the chords of 
true poefy, with the melting pathos of Collins, and the romantic 
ardour of Gray." — Neiv London Review, May l8co. 

8. ODE to Dr. THOMAS PERCY, Lord 
Bifliop of Dromore, oecafioned by reading the Re^ 
liques of Ancient Englifh Poetry, imperial 410. — 
Price 7s. 6d. boards. 

" We are unwilling to difmifs this article with an enumeration 
of petty faults, and thus to leave on our readers a more unfavour- 
able impreflion of the performance than we wifh to convey. We 
therefore renew the testimony which we have already borne to its 
chara&erittic merits. The mind of the author feems to be im- 
bued with that elegant fenfibiiky, and thofe pictorial conceptions., 
which are propitious to poetry : and if his genius ihould not en- 
title him to rank with original and inventive bards, he may take 
a refpectable flation among thofe, whofe tafle and feeling guide 
them to the ftudy and imitation of the beft models which have 
been furnifhed by their predeceflors," — Iivperial Hevietv, March 
1805. 

9. VERSES, SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC, by 
George Hay Drummond, A. M. fmall 8vo. — Price 

7s. boards. 

" The highly accomplished and refpeclable author has with great: 
diffidence entitled his publication Verfcs : but thefe verfes are de- 
rived from a higher lineage than many poems of far prouder 
boaft. They are highly finiined miniature reprefentations of do* 
meftic life, at various feafons, and deferve to be placed as cabinet 
pictures in every family apartment. 

" We mould delight in ielecling much from this euimable af- 
r en b:age of Vcetic Graces, did our fpace allow us the gratification . 

*3 



214 

but we muft reflritft ourfelves to the fcanty limits of a fonnet-ex- 
tra<ffc, amid many mere extended attractions. Yet we ought not to 
clofe this brief report, without expreffing our cordial conviction 
that if fuavity of fentiment, or elegance of expreflion, mould allure 
the reader to perufe thefe polifhed {trains with the attention which 
they merit, fuch reader muft be highly profited, as well as pleafed 
by the employ."— Monthly Mirror for June l8o2. 

" The Verfes difplay in general a mind of elegant turn, long 
habituated to the affociaticn of poetical images, and fufficiently ex- 
ercifed in the conflruclion of harmonious meafure. There are few 
Poems which we might not produce as fpecimens, without any in- 
juftice to the Author." — Britifo Critic for Auguft i8oa. 

10. SCOTTISH DESCRIPTIVE POEMS, with 
fome Iliuftrations of Scottifii Literary Antiquities. 

This Volume contains, 

I. The Clyde, a Poem, in two Parts, by John 
Wilfon, late Mafter of the Grammar School at 
Greenock ; with the Life of the Author, and 
Notes and Iliuftrations by the Editor. 

11. Albania, a Poem, addreffed to the Genius of 
Scotland, " by a Scots Clergyman ;" with Preli- 
minary Remarks and additional Notes by the 
Editor. 

III. The Day Estival, a Poem, by Alexander 
Hume ; with Preliminary Obfervations and 
Notes by the Editor, confiftin?; of Extracts from 
Bifhop Carfwell's Foirm na Nummidheadh, or 
Form of Prayer, 1567, in Gaelic and Englifh, 
chiefly concerning the Ancient Bards and Poetry 
of the Scottifii Highlanders. 

IV. Poems, by William Fowler; with Prelimina- 
ry Obfervations, by the Editor, fmall 8vo, price 
7s. boards. 

I I. The POETICAL WORKS of Hedor Mac- 
nicl, Efq. 2 vols, foolfcap 8vo. Price 14s. boards. 



215 

u it gives us pleafure to find that vXenhisrterefting writer, 
to feveral of whofe productions, when pubhthed feparately, we 
have already paid our tribute of approbation, has at length prefent- 
ed to the world a complete collection of his Poems. The firft 
Poem in this Collection is the Hijlory o' Will and Jean, or Scotland's 
Scaith. Irs object is to defer ibe the baneful effects of fpiritous li- 
quors on the morals and happinefs of the labouring poor. The 
hero is the very model of manly flrength and beauty, with an 
affectionate and generous heart. The heroine is endued with all 
the charms and virtues befitting her humble fituation. The progrefs 
of their ruin is pourtrayed with a degree of truth, fimplicky, and 
pathos, which irrefiftibly engages the attention and affects the heart. 

w The fuccefs of this Poem, and perhaps the benevolence of the 
Author, induced him to continue the ftory in a fecond part, en- 
titled Waes 0' War. The fecond part of Will and Jean, or the 
Waes o' War, is beautiful : in the ornaments of poetry it is fuperior 
to the firft. 

" The poetical merit ef the former part of this Poem, great as 
it is, is inferior to its merit in a moral point of view. It is not 
eafy to conceive any poem, or indeed any compofition, to be better 
calculated for remedying the evil againft which it is directed. 

" The next in fucceffion is a Poem to Eliza on kr Marriage, which 
is gay and Horatian. 

" Of The Harp, a legendary tale in two parts, we 'earn that Mr. 
Ramfay of Auchtertyre in Stirlingfhire, who appears to fuch ad- 
vantage as the correfpondent of Burns during a tour through the 
Hebrides, heard in converfation the cxpreffion, •« I'll never burn 
my harp for a woman." On inquiring into the meaning of this 
proverb, he underftood that it was founded on the {lory of a cele- 
brated harper, who, it would appear, had, in a fituation of great 
diftrefs, burnt his harp for want of other fuel, to fave his wife 
from perifhing by cold ; but had been repaid with ingratitude, the 
lady having foon afterwards deferted him for another. On this 
limple ftructure Mr. Macnielhas built a poem of various incident,, 
and of confiderable extent. Here his language is pure Englifh ; 
but the ancient Scottifh ballad is his model. The Harp is dra- 
matic, defcriptive, and pathetic ; and we fhouid be tempted to 
enlarge again on its merit?, did our limits permit. 

" In thefe volumes we find feveral fongs in the Scottifh man- 
ner and dialect, which are in general written with great tafte, 
fimplicity, and delicacy. 

u The quotations we have given, and feveral of Mr. MacniePs 
other Poems, particularly his Ode to Grandeur, and his verfes on 
the death of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, mew confiderable ftrength, 
and elevation of fancy. But tendernefs, delicacy, and fenfibilifv 



2l6 

are the molt, ftriking chara&eriiHcs of his mufe. He is every;- 
whete true to nature and paffion, and touches with a fkilful hand 
the fined chords of the heart. As a moral writer he is without 
a ftain, — uniformly faithful to the caufe of innocence and the inte- 
refts of virtue." — Critical Review, March 1S02. 

12. EPISTLE FROM LADY GRANGE TO 
EDWARD D , Efq. written during her con- 
finement in the Ifland of St. Kilda, 410. — Price 2s. 
fewed. 

u After dinner to-day we talked of the extraordinary fact of 
Lady Grange's being fent to St. Kilda, and confined there, with- 
out any means of relief. 

" The true ftory of this lady is as frightfully romantic as if it 
had been the fiction of a gloomy fancy. She was the wife of one 
of the Lords of Seflicn in Scotland, a man of the firfl blood of his 
country. 

" For fome myflerious reafons, which have never been difco- 
vered, me was fcized, and carried off in the dark, me knew not 
by whom, and by nightly journeys was conveyed to the Highland 
mores, from whence fhe was tranfported by fea to the remote rock 
of St. Kilda, where fhe remained amongft its few wild inhabitants, 
a forlorn prifoner, but had a coniiant fupply of providons, and a 
woman to Avait upon her. 

" No inquiry was made after her, till fhe at lafl found means 
to convey a letter to a confidential friend, by the daughter of a 
catechift, who concealed it in a clue of yarn. Information being 
thus obtained at Edinburgh, a fhip was fent to bring her off; but 
intelligence of thjs being received, fhe was carried to M'Leod's 
ifland of Herries., where ihe died." — BofivelVs "Journal of a "Tour to 
the Hebrides, p. ZJJ. Edit. 17S6.. 

13. MARY STEWART, QUEEN OF SCOTS, 

an Hiftorical Drama, 8vo. — Price 4s. fewed. 

11 The life and death of Mary Queen of Scots has been render- 
ed fo familiar to every Brjtcn by poets, hiilorians, and even dra- 
matics, that to give an air of novelty to the incidents of her ill- 
fated ftory, or to impart additional inttreft to them by poetic lan- 
guage and ftage effect., is a taftc of no eafy attainment ; the li- 
mitations of hlftory become defpotic reihaints upon the freedom 
of imagination. 

" By the prefent anonymous writer, much ingenuity, however, 
is (hewn in the management of his drama, and much chara&erifik 



217 

fpirit is difplayed in pourtraylng the rival queens." — Monthly Mir- 
ror, Jan. 1802. 

14. THE MISCELLANEOUS WORKS OF 
TOBIAS SMOLLETT, M. D. with Memoirs of 
his Life and Writings, by Robert Anderfon, M. D. \ 
- — containing, The Adventures of Roderick Random 
- — The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle — Plays and 
Poems — The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fa- 
thom — An Account of the Expedition againft Car- 
thagena — The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves* 
— Travels through France and Italy — The Expedi- 
tion of Humphry Clinker — And the Adventures of 
an Atom, 6 vols, 8vo, printed on a wove paper, 
hot-preflfed, new edition. — Price 2I. 14s. bound. 

15. PLUTARCH'S LIVES, tranflated from the 
Original Greek, with Nores Critical and Hiftorical, 
and a New Life of Plutarch, by John Langhorne, 
D. D. and William L-mghorne, M. A. ; a new edi- 
tion, carefully, corrected, and the Index much n- 
mended, and accurately revifed throughout, in 6 
vols. iamo. — Price li. 4s. bound. 

16. ARCH^OLGGIA GR^ECA, or The AN- 
TIQUITIES of GREECE, by John Potter, late 
Archbiihop of Canterbury, 2 vols. 8vo. — Price iSs 
in boards, 

17. THE WORKS OF DON FRANCISCO 
QUEVEDQ, tranflated from the Spanifn, containing 
— a New Life of the Author — his Seven Vifions — 
Curious Hillory of the Night Adventurer — The Life 
of Paul the Spanifh Sharper — Fortune in her Wits 
— Proclamation by Old Father Time — A Treatife of 
all Things whatfoever, paft, prefent, and to come — 
and Letters on iScveral Oceafions } 3 vols, roval 



218 

1 2mo, illuftrared with frontifpieces.— -Price 15 s. 
bound, 

18. A DISSERTATION ON MIRACLES, 
containing an Examination of the Principles of Da- 
vid Hume, Efq. in an EfTay on Miracles, by the 
late George Campbell, D. D. Principal of the Ma- 
rifchal College, and one of the Minifters of Aber- 
deen, the third edition, nmo. — Price 3s. 6d. bound. 

" The main defign of this candid, fpirited, and fenfible perform- 
ance, is not to refute the reafoning and objections of Mr. Hume, 
but to fet the principal argument for Chriftianity in its proper 
light. Our author's principal merit confifts in treating his fubjedt 
in a more regular and methodical manner than thofe who have 
gone before him ; and, as he juftly obferves, the evidence of any 
complex argument depends very much on the order into which 
the material circumftances are digefted, and the manner in which 
they are difplayed. He treats his ingenious adverfary with can- 
dour, but without ceremony or referve,and anfwers the arguments 
contained in his famous EJfay on Miracles, in a clear and rational 
manner." v. 

" The genteel and togenuous manner in which our author fpeaks 
of his adverfary, muft give every impartial reader a favourable o- 
pinion of his candour ; and thofe who are qualified to judge of 
fuch fubjects, will, we are perfuaded, after an attentive perufal of 
his DifTertation, entertain as favourable an opinion of his abilities." 
^-Monthly Review for "June lj6l. 

19. AN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN 
UNDERSTADING, with Thoughts on the Con- 
duct of the Underftanding, by John Locke, Efq. To 
which is prefixed the Life of the Author, 3 vols. 
i2mo. — Price 10s. 6d. bound. 

20. LETTERS V/RITTEN BY A TURKISH 
SPY, who lived five-and- forty years undifcovered at 
Paris ; giving an impartial account to the Divan at 
Conflantinople of the moft Remarkable Tranfa£tions 
of Europe, and difcovering feveral Intrigues and Se- 
fcrets of the Chriftian Courts (epecially of that cf 



219 

France) from the year 1637 to the year 1682, a new 
edition, 8 vols. i2mo. — Price il. 8s. bound. 

2i. AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY AND 
CURE OF FEVER, Endemic and Contagious, more 
exprefsly the Contagious Fever of Jails, Ships, Hof- 
pitals, the Concentrated Endemic, vulgarly the Yel- 
low Fever of the Weft-Indies ; to which is added, an 
Explanation of the Principles of Military Difcipline 
and Economy, with a Scheme of Medical Arrange- 
ments for Armies, by Robert Jackfon, M. D. in one 
volume 8vo. — Price 7s. boards. 

" Dr. Jackfon, it appears, has been engaged in the medical de- 
partment of the army -ever Tince the year 1774, and fpent a large 
portion of that time in the Weft-Indies and in America. Fever, 
as the moll frequent and moft fatal difeafe in thofe countries, em- 
ployed the greater part of his attention. He has been accuilomed, 
he fays, to take minutes of the cafes he attended, and from time 
to time to correct and arrange them. In the year 1791, he pubr 
limed the refult of his obfervations to that time. This work hav- 
ing been Avell received by his brethren of the profeflion of phyfic , 
he was thence induced to continue his labours, in order to make 
it worthy of their acceptance. 

" The author has fince had opportunity of feeing and treating 
the contagious fever, as it appeared-in the Britifh army in England, 
Holland, and Ireland, from the year 1793 to the year 1 796 ; and 
the yellow fever, which committed fuch dreadful ravages among 
our troops in the Ifland of St. Domingo, during the years 1796, 
1797, and part of the year 1798 ; and it will be found that his 
induftry has equalled his opportunities. 

" He has taken a large and comprehenfive view of his fubjecl;, 
and, introductory to the parts we have noticed, has given the hif- 
tory of the comagious and of the concentrated endemic, as they ap- 
peared in the parts where he principally refided, with humane 
and judicious obfer stations on the caufe of the great mortality at- 
tending them among our troops. 

" There is alfo an ample collection of cafes, feemingly impartial- 
ly and faithfully detailed, the author giving thofe in which he failed^ 
as well as thofe in which he was fuccefsful. On the whole, we re- 
commend this work to the ferrous perufal of medical men, parti- 



2.2 O 

cularly of thoie employed in the army and navy in the Weic- 
Indies or America." — Britijb Critic for January 1800. 

" The confequences of fever are very accurately detailed, and 
the local action of a febrile caufe, either as thrown on the intef- 
tines producing diarrhoea and dyfentery, or on the ikin occafioning 
eruptions or ulcers, carefully examined. 

" On the whole, we think this work truly original, and that it 
difplays much ufeful information; and we can recommend the 
author as a man of ability, judgment, and observation." — Critical 
JRevieiu, December 1800. 

" This work appears to be the refult of much careful obferva- 
tion, and to merit the attention of practitioners who are attached 
to the army. 

" The account of diiTections of patients who died of the yellow 
fever is valuable, becauie it feems to be formed from numerous and 
accurate obfervations. 

" The fubjoined treatife on military discipline, Sac. contains ufe- 
ful obfervations, and mould be perufed by military men." 

Monthly RevieiVy November 1 799. 

22. OBSERVATIONS on the ZOONOMIA of 
ERASMUS DARWIN, M. D. by Thomas Brown, 
Efq. one large vol. 8vo. — Price 8s. boards. 

" Mr. Brown is the firfl formidable antagonist, whom the novel- 
ty of Dr. Darwin's theories has provoked. He has entered on 
his inveitigaticn, however, with all the refpe6l due to the great 
talents and extenfive knowledge of the author whom he crit 
and whatever may have been our partiality to the beautiful fabric 
which he attempts to overthrow, we muft confider him as a cham- 
pion worthy of being admitted to the encounter. 

" To conclude, we think that this book is a very refpeclabte 
fpecimen of the author's talents and attainments. \Vhh much vi- 
gour and acutenefs of mind, it exhibits a liberal and truly philo- 
sophical fpirit ; and though we have ventured in feme inftanees 
to exprefs a difference of opinion with Mr. Brown, we cannot take 
leave of his performance without intimating our hope that we fna!l 
have frefh occafions hereafter of giving our unbiaffed fuffrage to his 
abilities." — Monthly Review, June and July 1 799. 

23. ELEMENTS OF CHEMISTRY AND NA- 
TURAL HISTORY 5 to which is prefixed, the Phi- 
lofophy of Chemiftry, by A. F. Fouixroy, the fifth 



221 

edition ; with Notes by John Thomfon, Surgeon in 
Edinburgh, 3 vols, royal 8vo. — Price il. us. 6d. in 
boards. 

" This edition has a claim to our attention on account of the 
Notes which have heen added by the Editor, and which we have 
indeed perufed with much pleafure. Mr. Thomfon has not, like 
many Editors, contented himfelf with giving the text of his au- 
thor with only a few fuperficial remarks ; on the contrary, he has 
added many copious and valuable Notes to each chapter, the felec- 
tion and number of which difcover much judgment, and confi- 
derable extent of chemical reading. By thefe Notes, alfu, this 
Edition has in a great meafure been made to keep pace with the 
rapid progrefs of Chemical Science fince the publication of the ori- 
ginal work. The Notes on the Animal Kingdom, Part IV. are 
particularly inftru<$tive and ihterefting; the fame may indeed be 
faid nearly of the whole : and we have no doubt that this Edition 
will be found highly ufeful to chemical ftudents."— Monthly Re- 
ntieio, Dec. l8ci, 

24. ESSAYS ON THE DISEASES OF CHILD- 
REN, with Cafes and Diffeaions. Effay I. Of 
Cynanche Trachealis, or Croup. By John Cheyne, 
M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of 
Edinburgh. In one vol. imperial Octavo, illuftrated 
with finely coloured Directions— - Price 15 s. in 
boards. 

25 . „_ -Effayll. On 

the Bowel Complaints, more immediately connected. 
with the Biliary Secretion, and particularly of Atro- 
phia Ablactatorum, or Weaning Brafh. Bv John 
Cheyne, M. D. Fellow of the Royal College of Sur- 
geons of Edinburgh. In one vol. imperial Octavo, 
illuftrated with finely coloured Directions.— Price 
125. 6d. in boards. 

26. A SYSTEM OF DISSECTIONS, explaining 
the Anatomy of the Human Body, the Manner of 
difphying its Parts, and their Varieties in Difeafe. 
Volume I. containing the Directions of the Abcio 



2 22 

men, Thorax, Pelvis, Thigh, and Leg. The-fe- 
cond edition. By Charles Bell, Fellow of the Royal 
College of Surgeons. — Price il. 9s. 6d. fewed. 

27. A SYSTEM OF DISSECTIONS, Part I. 
Vol. II. containing the DifTeclions of the Arm, of the 
Neck and Face, of the Nervous Syftem of the Vif- 
cera, and of the Brain — with Plates, folio. — Price 
6s. fewed. 

2 8. — _ , Pa rt n, 

Vol. II, containing the Difie£Hons of the Superficial 
Parts of the Neck and Face, with Remarks connect- 
ing the Anatomy and Surgery of the Parts ; a View 
of the Nervous Syftem of the Vifcera ; with a inert 
Account of the Manner of DifTe£ting the Brain and 
Eye ; with Plates. By Charles Bell, Fellow of the 
Royal College of Surgeons. — Price 7s. 6d. 

This Number completes the plan of the Work, which is intend- 
ed chiefly to remove the difficulties which the Student has to en- 
counter in the Study of Anatomy, and to direct his attention to 
the points of practical importance. The Publishers have to regret, 
that, owing to the other unavoidable avocations of the author, they 
have not been fooner able to fulfil their engagements to the Pub- 
lic. 

29. FIRST LINES of the PRACTICE of 
PHYSIC, by William Cullen, M. D. late Profeffor 
of the Practice of Phyfic in theUniveriity of Edin- 
burgh, firfl: Phyfician to his Majefty for Scotland; 
Fellow of the Royal College of Phyficians in Edin- 
burgh, of the Royal Societies of London, of Edin- 
burgh, &x. &c. &c a New Edition ; with Supple- 
mentary Notes, including the more recent Improve- 
ments in the Practice of Medicine. By Peter Reid, 
2 vols. 8vo. — Price 16s. in boards. 

30. ENGRAVINGS of the ARTERIES, il- 
luftrating the Second Volume of the Anatomy of 



223 

the Human Body, by J. Bell, Surgeon ; and ferv- 
ing as an Introduction to the Surgery of the Arte- 
ries. By Charles Bell. — Price ll. is. in boards. 

31. The ANATOMY of the GRAVID UT£. 
RUS, with Practical Inferences relative to Preg- 
nancy and labour, by John Burns, Surgeon, Glaf- 
gow, in one volume 8vo. — Price 5s. in boards. 

32. DISSERTATIONS on INFLAMMATION, 
containing, ift, Preliminary Differtation on fome 
of the Laws of the Animal Economy — 2d, On the 
Hiftory, Caufes, and Confequences, of Simple In- 
flammation — 3d, On the Phagedenic, and fome o- 
ther fpecies of Inflammation — 4th, On the Spon- 
goid Inflammation — 5th, On the Scrophulous In- 
flammation — 6th, On the Cancerous Inflammation ; 
by the fame Author, in 2 vols. 8vo. — Price 14s. in 
boards. 

33. AN ESSAY ON THE MORE COMMON 
WEST-INDIA DISEASES j and the Remedies 
which that Country itfelf Produces : To which are 
added. Some Hints on the Management, &c. of Ne- 
groes, by James Grainger, M. D. The fecond edi^ 
tion ; with Practical Notes, and a Linnsean Index, 
by William Wright, M. D. F. R. S. Phyfician to his 
Majefty's Forces. Octavo. — Price 3s. fewed. 

34. A PRACTICAL SYSTEM OF SURGE- 
RY, Illuftrated with Cafes on many of the Subjects, 
and with Copperplates, by James Latta, Surgeon in 
Edinburgh, 3 vols. 8vo. — Price il. is. fewed. 

35. ELEMENTS OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
being an Introduction to the Syftema Naturae of 
Linnaeus, comprifing the Characters of the whole 
Genera and molt remarkable Species, particularly of 



224 

all that are Natives of Britain, with the principal 
circumftances of their Hiftory and Manners; like- 
wife an Alphabetical Arrangement, with Definitions 
of Technical Terms, in 2 vols. 8vo. with Twelve 
Explanatory Copperplates. — Price iSs. in boards. 

" To reduce fuch a body of information within fo fniall a com- 
pafs, and in an order fo convenient, required fkill and pains by 
which a much more oflentatious work might well have been exe- 
cuted. We have in Englifh no compend of Zoology that, for ac- 
curacy and utility, can afpire to comparifon with this one. By 
the contrivance of the author, or compiler, it combines all the ad- 
vantages of a Fauna Britannica with thole of a compend of the ge- 
neral hiflory of living animals. It joins much of the general Philo- 
sophy of Natural Hiitory with the orderly detail of lo many of the 
minuter facts belonging to the fcience. Its flyle has the iimplici- 
ty, the precifion, the correctnefs which we mould chiefly defire in 
a work like this. We are aftonifhed that the author mould hnv^ 
been able to defcend, in a work of this fize, to the enumeration 
of fo many fpecies, and to enter into fuch a detail of the manners of 
the different animals which he defcribes. If he has freely availed 
himfeif of the information furnifhed by other writers, he has ufed 
with a mafterly hand whatever he had occafion to borrow. With 
fuch a manual, the Student of Zoology may make more rapid pro- 
grefs, than by any other means which we can point out to him." 
-Anti jacobin Review for July l8c2. 

36. GENERAL VIEW OF THE AGRICUL- 
TURE OF THE COUNTY OF ARGYLL, with 
Obiervations on the Means of its Improvement, 
drawn up for the Confideration of the Board of A~ 
^liculture and Internal Improvement, by Jo. Smith, 
D. D. one of the Miniflers of Campbelton, illuftrat- 
ed with a large Map of the County, 8vo. — Price 8s, 
in boards. 

37. SAME BOOK in royal 8vo, hot-preffed, 12s. 
boards. 

The Map of the Countv may be had feparate^ 
price 3s. 6d. or 7s. 6d. on canvas and rollers. 



22J 

,8. GENERAL VIEW OF THE AGRICUL- 
TURE OF THE COUNTY OF CLYDESDALE, 

with Obfervations on the Means of its Improvement, 
by John Naifmith, drawn up for the Consideration of 
the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, 
g vo# . — p r i C e 4s. in boards. Illuftrated with a Map of 
the County. 

39. PLANS FOR THE DEFENCE OF GREAT 
BRITAIN AND IPvELAND, by Lieut. Col. Dirom, 
Deputy Quarter-mafter-general in North Britain,8vo. 
— Price 2S. 6d. fewed. 

40. A SUMMARY VIEW OF HERALDRY, 
in reference to the Ufages of Chivalry, and the Ge~ 
neral Economy of the Feudal Syflem. Wirh an. 
Appendix, refpe&ing fuch Diftinclions of Rank as 
have place in the Britifh Conftitutioru By Thomas 
Brydfon, F. A. S. Edinburgh, 1 vol. royal 8vo. 

j — Price i os. 6d. boards. 

" It may perhaps be but juftice to declare, that the ingenious 
Author of this Work has comprifed in the fpace of an Octavo Vo- 
lume all that is worthy of general promulgation on the fubject 
of Heraldry. To thofe fuperiicial ftudents of the fcience who 
mean to content themfelves with blazoning arms and Sketching 
pedigrees, his book will be ufelefs. It will neither enable them 
to detect the owner of a ftngle coach, nor will it add one alliance 
to their (tore of genealogical information : But the Hiflorian and 
the Poer, nay, the Lawyer and the Politician, will perufe it with 
pieafure ; while the more carelefs reader, who, purfuing none or 
the regular paths of literature, Heps occalionally iuto all, will b. 
equally gratified and furprifed, when he finds that Heraldry has 
fome relation to all fciences, is connected with every branch ot 
civil polity, and influences, in a confiderable degree, the general 
manners of fociety. 

" It is a pleafing circumftance to find elegance and liberal infor- 
mation thus happily connected with a fcience ufually perplexed, as 
Heraldry is, by technical terms, and grotefque figures. Mr. Bryd- 

p 



226 

ion's book may be recommended, as we have already hinted, to 
intelligent readers of all defcriptions, who will find in it much 
that is amufing and in (tractive, without any unpleafant mixture/ 
— Briti/h Critic, March 1796. 

" Thofe who will take the trouble of perufing the prefent Vo- 
lume, will find in it more than it promifes, and will be fufficient- 
ly paid for their pains. The Author has ftudied the fubje£t with 
attention, and has condenfed his matter with care and tafte ; fo 
that his details are never tedious, but are tor the moft part enter- 
taining. The language is clear and appropriate ; and if it be not 
always purely claffical, it is never vulgar and turgid. 

" Mr. Brydfon gives a neat Summary Account of the Diftinc- 
tions of Rank included in the Britiib Conftitution, with their dif- 
ferent privileges and precedency. — This is a well digefted abridge- 
ment of our beft writers on the fubjetfl. On the whole, as we 
have read the volume with pleature, we cannot help recommend- 
ing it to all who with to have, at fmall coft, a proper idea of He- 
raldry, Ranks, and Privileges, efpecially of thofe which are pecu- 
liarly our own.'" — Monthly Review, Sept. 1796. 

" When we took up this Volume, we certainly did not expect 
to meet with much entertainment. We were moft agreeably dis- 
appointed : We have read few tracts with more pleafure. This 
is not a dry, dull fyftem of Heraldry, that teaches only to diflin- 
guifh armorial bearings, and give to each of their parts and co- 
lours their proper Scientific names ; it is an excellent differtation 
en the origin and progrefs of Heraldry, as connected with feudai 
tenures, and the different ranks in civil fociety ; and written in 
a plain, eafy, and elegant ftyle ; abating a very few grammatical 
inaccuracies, hardly worth mentioning. Mr. Brydfon mud have 
employed much time and labour in reducing his rude materials in- 
to fo elegant a form. We hope his labour will be properly reward- 
ed, by a copious fale of his Work, which every Peer and privileged 
Terfon mould have in their libraries." — Analytical Review y AuguQ 
1796. 

41. OBSERVATIONS on the TEMPER and 
SPIRIT of the IRISH NATION at the prefent 
Crifis, by John Pratt Winter, Efq. 8vo, — Price 
is.6d. 

" A very judicious and difpoflionate addrefs, in which the au- 
thor txpoftulates with hi? countrymen on the extreme folly, ab- 
surdity, and mifchiei, of the conduct which, to gratify a temporary 



227 

paffion, would deliver their ifland to a pillaging, treacherous, and 
relentlefs, enemy. He enumerates the reafons which fhould induce 
the Irifh to fupport the union of their country with Great Britain, 
and paints, with ftrorig colouring, the calamities with which all 
orders would be vifited, in the cafe of its being diflblved. He 
does not diflemble that there are grievances which require redrefs : 
but he exhorts to patience, and recommends it to patriots, in the 
meantime, to direct their efforts to improve the mind and focial 
character of their countrymen." — Monthly Review, June 1804. 

42. RAYNAL's HISTORY of the EAST and 
WEST INDIES, illuttrated with Maps, 6 vols. 
nmo. — Price li. ics. bound. 
' 43, THE WORKS OF HORACE, tranflated 
literally into Englifh Profe, for the ufe of thofe who 

, are defirous of acquiring or recovering a compe- 
tent knowledge of the Latin Language, by C. Smart, 

: A. M. of Pembroke- College, Cambridge, 2 vols. 

i i8mo. — Price 5s. bound. 

44. THE ANCIENT HISTORY of the Egyptians, 
1 Carthaginians, Aflyrians, Babylonians, Medes and 

Perfians, Macedonians and Grecians, by Mr. Rollin, 
Hate Principal of the Univerfity of Paris, 8 vols, 
l2mo. Price il. 12s. bound. 

45. LECTURES ON THE NATURE AND 
END OF THE SACRED OFFICE, and on the 

i Dignity, Duty, Qualifications, and Character, of the 
Sacred Order; by John Smith, D. D. one of the 
I Minifters of Campbelton. — Price 5s. in boards. 

" To imprefs this duty (the duty of his office) on the mind 
' of every confeientious Clergyman , Nothing would more contri- 
' bute than a perufal of the volume now before us, which enters in- 
to the detail of the fubject with minutenels, with candour, and 
, without enthufiafm. It ought to be recommended to every one, 
. previous to his engaging in the clerical profeffion," — European 
. Magazine for Sept. 1 798. 

€ 2 



228 

" The various gifts and graces indifpen fable to a fui table and tf- 
iieient difeharge of all the duties incumbent on whoever would act 
the part of a real Chriftian paftor confcientioufly and faithfully 3 
are here detailed at great length, and with equal accuracy and 
perfpicuity." — Lady's Monthly Mufeum for AW. 1 798. 

" Though thefe extracts will enable our readers to form an idea 
of the author's manner, we mould not do juflice to his pious zeal, 
if we did not obferve, that throughout his performance there 
reigns a fpirit of devotion, tempered with knowledge; that the 
Subjects of each lecture are well felecred, and well treated ; and 
that the young clergyman into whofe hands the work may fall, 
will reap no fmall advantage, if he mould make it the fubject of 
his frequent attention." — Critical Review for March 1799. 

46. THE LIFE OF ST. COLUMBA, the A- 

poiile and Patron of the Ancient Scots and Piers, 
and joint Patron of the Iriih, commonly called Co- 
lum-Kille, the Apoftle of the Highlands. By John 
Smith, D-D. one of the Minifters of Campbeiron, 
Honorary Member of the Antiquarian and Highland 
Societies of Scotland \ i vol. 8vo. — Price 3s. fewed. 

<c The Life of this celebrated Saint of the fixth century was 
written in Latin by two of his fuccellors, Cummin and Adom- 
nan. Their performances, like other works of the fame nature 
snd of the fame age, are filled with vifions, prophecies, and mira- 
cles. Dr. Smith has therefore undertaken to difencumber the 
memoirs of this great and good man from the miraculous garb 
with which they have been fo long invefted ; to feparate the fact 
from the fable, and to fhow the Saint in his real character."-— 
Monthly Review, Dec. 1 79 8. 

47. A PARAPHRASE ON THE FOUR E- 
VANGELISTS ; wherein, for the clearer Under- 
Handing of the Sacred Hiftory, the whole Text and 
Paraphrafe are printed in feparate columns over- 
againft each other •, with Critical Notes on the more 
difficult Paffages, very ufeful for Families, by Samuel 
Clarke, D. D. late Rector of St. James's, Weftmin*. 



229 

iter, 2 vols. 8vo.— A PARAPHRASE ON THE 
ACTS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES, and upon all 
the Epiftles of the New Teftament, being a complete 
Supplement to Dr. Clarke's Paraphrafe on the Four 
Gofpels ; with Notes, and a fliort Preface to each 
Epiftle, mowing the Occafion and Defign of it, with 
the feveral Arguments fet at the head of each Chap- 
ter ; and a general Index to all the principal Matters > 
Words, and Phrafes of the New Teftament, except- 
ing the Revelation. For the ufe of Families. By Tho* 
Pyle, M. A. Minifter of Lynn-Regis in Norfolk, and 
Prebendary of the Cathedral Church of Sarum, 2 
vols. 8vo.— A PARAPHRASE, WITH NOTES, 
ON THE REVELATION OF ST. JOHN, which 
completes the Paraphrafe on the New Teftament, in 
the manner- of Dr. Clarke, by Thomas Pyle, M. A. 
The fecond edition, with the laft Manufcript Addi- 
tions of the Author, now for the firft time incorpo- 
rated with the Work, 8vo \ forming together a, com* 
plete Commentary on the New Tefta?nent y 5 vols. 8vo. 
Price 1 1. 13 s. bound. 

48. SERMONS on PUBLIC OCCASIONS, 
and a LETTER on THEOLOGICAL STUDY, 
by Robert late Archbifhop of York. To which 
are prefixed, Memoirs of his Life, by George Hay 
Drummond, A. M. Prebendary of York, in 1 vol. 
8vo. with a finely Engraved Portrait of the Author, 
— Price 6s. m boards. 

*' The fermons of this diftinguifned Prelate are now colle&ed 
for the firft time ; and it is but juftice to remark, that they are 
compofed in the good old ftyle. The fubjecT is perfpicuoufly flar- 
ed ; and the arguments, by which it is enforced, are judicioufly 
chofen and accurately arranged. 



230 

" We have not hefitated to produce fpecimens of thefe dif- 
courfes, which appeared fingly many years ago, but which have 
never been collected till the appearance of the volume before us. 
We make no apology to our readers for this ieeming departure 
from our plan, becaufe the difcourles contain fuch excellent mat- 
ter, and furnifh fo good a model for difcourfes upon limilar occa- 
(ions, that we conceive they cannot be too generally known. 
One part of the materials fumifhed by the good Prelate, is how- 
ever entirely original. This is a letter upon Theological Study, 
written when Dr. Brum m on d was Biihop of St. Afaph, to the fon 
of an intimate friend, then a candidate for holy orders ; the frame 
of mind in which this branch of ftudy Gib a Id be cultivated, is fo 
wifely delineated that we cannot dilmifs this article without le- 
lecling forre pages, equally honourable to the head and heart of 
the venerable writer." — Imperial Review , September 1804. 

49. C. CORNELII TACITI OPERA, recogno- 
vit, emendavit, fupplementis explevit, Notis, DiiTer- 
tationibus, Tabulis Geographicis illuitravit, Gabriel 
Brotier, 4 torn. 4to, 5I. 10s. boards. 

50. IDEM LIBER, 4 torn, royal 8 vo.— Price 
3I. 3s. in boards. 

In this edition are included the Notes added 
by Brotier to the Paris i2mo edition, in- 
corporated with thofe he had formerly pub- 
lifhed with the 4to ; and it is thus rendered 
more complete than either of the Paris 
editions. 

51. Q.HORATIIFLACCI OPERA, cum Scho- 
liis veteribus caftigavit, et Notis illuftravit, Gulielmus 
Baxterus. Varias Le&iones et Obfervationes addidit 
Jo. Matthias Gefnerus. Quibus et fuas adfperfit Jo. 
Carolus Zeunius, Prof. Gr. Litt. Viteberg. Editio 
nova, priore emendatior, 4to, il. 4s. boards. 

52. IDEM LIBER, royal 8vo — Price 12s. 6d. 



231 

53- Publii Virgilii Maronis Bucolica, Georgica 
et jEneis, ad Optimorum Exemplarium fidem re- 
cenfita, poft i2mo, 3s. 6d. bound. 

54. Idem Liber, demy i8mo, 25. bound. 

55. Grammaticae Latinae Inftitutiones, facili, et 
ad Puerorum captum accommodata, Methodo Per- 
fcriptae ; Thoma Ruddimanno, A. M. Au&ore, 
editio decima tertia, nmo, 3s. bound. 

56. The Rudiments of the Latin Tongue ; or, A 
plain and eafy Introduction to Latin Grammar : 
wherein the principles of the language are metho- 
dically digefted both in Englifh and Latin, with 
ufeful Notes and Obfervations, explaining the 
Terms of Grammar, and farther improving its 
Rules. By Tho. Ruddiman, M. A. The twenty- 
fecond edition, carefully corrected and improved, 
i2mo, is. 6d. bound. 

57. Grammatical Exercifes ; or, An Exemplifi- 
cation of the feveral Moods and Tenfes, and of the 
principal Rules of Conftru£lion ; confiding chiefly 
of Moral Sentences, collefled out of the belt Roman 
Authors, and tranilated into Englifh, to be render- 
ed back into Latin, the Latin Words being all in 
the oppofite Column, taken for the moft part from 
Mr. Turner's Exercifes to the Accidence, and 
adapted to the Method of Mr. Ruddiman's Latin 
Rudiments, i8mo, is. 6d. bound. 

58. Georgii Buchanani Scoti, Poetarum fuifeculi 
facile Principis,Paraphraiis Pfalmorum DavidisPoe- 
tica, ad optimameditionemThomae Ruddimanni, A. 
fummo ftudio recognita et caftigata. Praemifla eft 



232 

accuratior quam antehac carminum explicatio, 
iBmo, is. 6d. bound, 

59. G- Buchanani Paraphrafis Pfalmorum Da- 
vidis Pcetica. Cum verfione Anglica, in qua ver- 
bum de verbo, quantum fieri potuit, redditur : 
Necnon cum ordine Syntaxeos, in eadem Pagina, 
Andrea Waddell, A. M. auclore, editio nova, fum- 
roa cura caftigata, vo, 5s. bound. 

60. Titi Livii Hiftoriarum ab Urbe condita libri 
quinque priores, ad optimam T. Ruddimanni edi- 
tionem fideliter expreffi ; ufui fcbolarum, fc i2mo, 
2s. 6d. bound. 

61. Maturini Corderii Colloquiorurn Centuria 
felecla ; or, A Seled Century of M. Cordery's Col- 
loquies ; with an Englifli tranflation, as literal as 
poffible, and a large vocabulary for the affiftance 
of beginners in the ftudy of Latin, i8mo, is. 6d. 
bound* 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: March 2009 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 

111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 1 6066 
(724)779-2111 



